


Nine Roses

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of regenerating at the end of "The Parting of Ways", Bad Wolf intervenes and prevents his regeneration.  Explore the second season of New Who with the Ninth Doctor.  How will things change?  Will they end up together?  Happy?  Or will things happen too much the same as before and end with heart break?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Christmas Invasion

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time, there was a young Who fan with a brilliant idea! Christopher Eccleston stays! And then she turned it into a story, which was not very well written. Several years later, she finds a document on her computer and is compelled to read it. Appalled by the quality, but loving the idea, she decides to rewrite the story and turn into something much better written. 
> 
> That is the story of this story and how it came into being. This is my present to the fandom, which I hope you enjoy, and I will post a chapter a day until Christmas, then will turn into a twice weekly update. The first few chapters will mostly be rewrites of specially picked episodes, but on Christmas Eve will shift into more flashes of episodes, and behind the scenes.

"Rose... before I go, I just want to tell you: you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!" the Doctor had a huge grin from ear to ear watching Rose as he felt the regeneration energy running through. Rose looked completely devastated, and confused, bless her heart.

"I came back to prevent you from dying," Rose said, and the Doctor looked at her confused himself now, seeing her eyes turn a bright gold. His eyes widened, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. The energy was released. Rose watched him, her eyes burning gold, as a sort of yellow powder came from her eyes towards the Doctor engulfed with regeneration energy. Rose stumbled back, her eyes back to normal seeing the Doctor engulfed in what seemed to be flames. She wanted to rush up to him and try to stop whatever it was, because it surely was painful, at least it looked like it would be. However, then, the flame like energy disappeared, revealing the same doctor with the short hair that she knew.

"Y-you said you would change," Rose said confused as to what had happened, and what he meant by changing, because he looked just like normal, just like she knew.

"I don't look different?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow and inspected himself, "Definitely feel the same." The Doctor looked up at Rose before he smiled from ear to ear much like he had just moment ago before it diminished slightly. "Rose, you are fantastic."

"What did I do?" Rose asked with a small smile of her own; his smile was quite contagious.

"Everything," the Doctor replied moving closer to her, giving her a large hug. However, just moments later, without being able to say anything else, the Doctor flew back, as if an invisible force pushed him back. He held his stomach, and smiled at Rose, before breathing out a hint of the regeneration energy.

"I'll be fine, I promise," the Doctor said looking at her his face in pain slightly, "I have to sleep, for a while. We need to get back to Earth." The Doctor quickly moved over to the panel, the TARDIS already in flight. He punched in a few keys and Rose approached him.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked seeing the pained expression and the Doctor simply smiled from ear to ear once more standing up straight.

"Positi-" the Doctor replied as he was hit again by the invisible force, telling him to go to sleep, "Once I can get to sleep…" The Doctor looked back at the control panel and moved around the circular center, hitting a few more buttons, his movements much slower than he had in the past. The TARDIS was shaking much worse than it had before, knocking Rose to the side, but the Doctor held onto the console. "I'll explain later, I promise. You do… trust me?"

"With my life," Rose said with a small nod. The Doctor collapsed to his knees, barely managing to stay near the console, holding himself up with his arms now. Rose hurried and held up the Doctor, worried out of her mind for him.

"Just press… t-the blue one," the Doctor struggled to get out, having a hard time staying up even with Rose's help. Rose nodded, and took one of her arms, the other still holding up the Doctor, pressing the blue button nearest to them. The Doctor smiled, as he fell to the floor, bringing Rose with him.

"I will be fine," the Doctor assured her, as she was trying to get him back up, as the TARDIS engine went off, meaning they had landed. She pulled him up, and he seemed to fly forwards, out of the TARDIS doors, as if there was momentum from her pulling him up, or some invisible force pushing him out, still on his feet, like the TARDIS was throwing him up. Rose followed him quickly, seeing the Doctor with his arms around Mickey and Jackie.

"Ricky. Jackie. Merry Christmas," the Doctor said before collapsing onto the ground, his leather jacket crooked on his body.

"What's wrong with him?" Jackie asked.

"I-I don't know," Rose replied, rushing to the Doctor's side, "We should get him to a bed." Jackie nodded, and Mickey answered by helping Rose and Jackie pick the Doctor up with a little bit of effort, but the three managed it, though the Doctor ended up in an odd position as they carried him up the stairs up to the Tylers' apartment. 

He was set on Rose's bed, and Jackie and Mickey left, and Rose had took it upon herself to dress the Doctor in more comfortable clothes, some robes that Jackie had from a guy she had met. Rose stayed by the Doctor's side, not moving except to take care of some natural processes. She held his large cold hand, and watched him, worried. She trusted him, and she told him he would be fine later, but she couldn't help but worry that this was one of the rare moments he was wrong, or more likely, lying to her.

"Rose," Mickey said from behind her. Rose turned and smiled before turning back to the Doctor with a frown, "Would you like to go shopping with me? For Christmas?" Rose shook her head quickly, not saying a word. "C'mon, Rose. It's going to do no good being worried just sitting there. Maybe it could take your mind off of him, for now."

"I'm fine," Rose replied quietly. Mickey sighed, walking from the door and sat next to her.

"I know you're worried, Rose. But, it's not like he'll get better faster with you here by him," Mickey said, and Rose was about to protest, but Mickey quickly continued, stopping her in her tracks, "I know. You and him, you two have something special. Something you and I might have had at one point, but not anymore. Maybe while we're out, you could get him something. Have a little fun. Your Doctor would probably like it more if you had fun instead of worry to death." Rose bit her lip and stared at the Doctor's unconscious face, as he wore the robe, sleeping on her bed. He was completely helpless. She never thought she would ever see him like this. She sighed and looked towards Mickey.

"All right," Rose said, and smiled weakly.

"That's the spirit," Mickey said happily placing his arm around her shoulder, and the two rose from her bed, and headed towards the door. Rose looked back for a moment, before she made her way out of the room for the first time since the Doctor and she had arrived. It was a couple of hours that the two were out, shopping. 

Rose picked up a shirt for her mum, and a stuffed Christmas Tree that said 'Merry Christmas' across it with arms and legs for the Doctor. She couldn't seem to hide anything from Mickey without him knowing. He had insisted on no presents, but she wanted to give him one anyways. So she managed to sneak a small pen set for Mickey which she bought while he ran to the restroom. The two were walking down the street and laughing at a joke Mickey had just told about a time with his fellow mechanics (which Rose was only half listening to), when Rose spotted the Santa Band playing a little ways away.

"Let's go this way," Rose said tugging him from the direction of the Santa Band, just in case.

"Is there something wrong?" Mickey asked looking at the Santa Band and raising an eyebrow, "If I knew that you were afraid of mechanical Santas…" He chuckled. Rose was looking at the band with suspicion.

"No, it's not that, it's… something about them," Rose said, "Something that doesn't seem right." At that moment, the band turned their instruments on the two. Rose pulled Mickey to the side, barely dodging the shot from the tuba. The two hid behind a stand as the people ran, trying to keep away.

"What do they want?" Mickey asked confused.

"They don't want us. Think. What is the only valuable thing we really have? The Doctor," Rose explained quickly, as she guided Mickey behind stands and away from the Santa Band, "He's in trouble. We've got to get home." The two managed to lose the slow Santas and hurry back to the apartment, where Rose burst through the door, and into the living room, and looked around.

"Is something wrong?" Jackie asked, walking in from the kitchen, "I have dinner almost done, you'll have to wait a little bit longer for it."

"Mum," Rose said looking at a Christmas tree in the corner of the living room which wasn't there when they had left, "Where'd you get that?" Rose stared at the Christmas tree, getting the same feeling as she did when she saw the Santa Band.

"It was just left at the door. I assumed it was from you since you were out about shopping," Jackie replied in her wispy almost dream-like tone.

"We didn't get a Christmas tree," Rose said, and Mickey came in from the kitchen, having nicked a dinner roll, eating it.

"Well, I suppose someone else just gave it as a present," Jackie replied, not knowing why Rose seemed so concerned at the moment. There was silence for a moment, but then the tree began moving, the branches slowly began twirling around the center of the tree, towards them. Rose and Jackie both backed away, Jackie screaming in fright. Mickey grabbed a chair to try to hold them off, and the two women backed towards the door. Rose hurried to the Doctor, and Jackie followed.

"We need to get out of here," Jackie said urgently.

"We can't just leave him," Rose replied strongly. Mickey's chair was now nearly destroyed and he followed them into the room, where they barricaded the door. However, it was not going to hold. Rose took the sonic screwdriver from the night stand and placed it in the Doctor's hand. The tree broke whirling and ripping through the wall.

"Help me," Rose whispered in the Doctor's ear. Immediately the Doctor sprung up to a sitting position and pointing the screwdriver at the tree, stopping the spinning advancement. The Doctor hurried out of the room without a word, and out into the path between the other apartments on their floor. Rose and the others followed. He pointed his screwdriver at the Santa Band that was below him, which lacked their instruments. Suppose they would just be Santas then. The Santas took the warning and teleported away. The Doctor turned towards the three and smiled, before he collapsed on the ground. Rose hurried to go and hold him up as best as she could.

"My head… I need…" the Doctor began.

"What do you need?" Jackie interrupted.

"I need…" the Doctor began again.  
"Aspirin, painkillers, tea!" Jackie interrupted again.

"You to shut up," the Doctor finished shaking his head.

"Hasn't changed so much, has he?" Jackie muttered.

"Same old doctor," Rose replied.

"I need to sleep again. You woke me too early," the Doctor said grinning from ear to ear at the sound of her voice.

"Sorry, we needed you. You really should teach me how to use that thing," Rose joked pointing to the screwdriver.

"I will; I promise," the Doctor said, trying to get up, but unable to do so, and struggling in the attempt, "Something… bigger is coming." He looked at Rose quite seriously, his smile disappearing in a flash. "Also… why am I in a robe?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Thought it would be more comfy. You wear that jacket and jumper all the time," Rose teased with a smile, her tongue near her teeth showing just a bit.

"Oi! What's wrong with the jacket?" the Doctor asked, before grunting again, feeling himself slip away, before he breathed out a gold dust from his mouth, "Regeneration Energy. They were attracted by it. Could power a planet for decades." Rose nodded, and the Doctor fell asleep once more. Rose sighed and looked at the ground, next to her slumped over doctor.

"He'll be fine," Jackie assured her, as she and Mickey picked up the Doctor again, and brought him back to Rose's room. Rose followed them, and resumed her position next to the sleeping doctor.

"Rose, dear," Jackie called from the living room, "Come see what's on the telly." Rose ignored her mother and continued holding the Doctor's hand, slowly moving her thumb across the Doctor's hand hoping he would wake up again.

"Seriously, Rose," Mickey called, waving his hand towards the room Rose was in. Rose sighed and walked out of the room, keeping her eye on the Doctor until she could no longer, before she hurried into the living room. On the scream was a face of some alien looking creature the probe had sent back.

"What?" Rose asked confused.

"I thought the same thing; maybe they're the something bigger the Doctor was talking about," Mickey suggested. Rose nodded, sitting in a seat looking at the television set, which was playing the footage of the alien, getting a feeling from the footage, slightly different than the Santas before.

"The TARDIS isn't translating," Rose pointed out not understanding what the alien was saying on the footage, "But it always does. I-it's broken because he is…" She looked back at the room where the Doctor was sleeping. Jackie hugged her and they looked back at the television. 

Those on the television began explaining the footage as a prank from some college kids, but Rose had a feeling that was a lie. After a couple of hours, a report came in about people walking out onto roofs, to which the three acted fairly quickly, and headed to the door seeing people walking like zombies to the roof. The three followed, and watched the people line up on the edge of the roof, as a large space ship was visible overhead. Rose quickly turned around, and sprinted back to the house with the other two in tow.

"We've got to get him to the TARDIS, it's not safe out here, especially if they are after him," Rose said quickly, and began to try to carry the Doctor herself, which didn't work. Jackie went and got food as she and Mickey brought the Doctor to the TARDIS.

"I'll get more food, we won't know how long we'll be in there," Jackie said before exiting the TARDIS. Mickey poured the two of them tea, and waited a bit. They talked a small bit, the tea container uncapped on the ground, when Rose realized her mother had been gone for a long while.

"Maybe she needs help with the food," Rose suggested, and the two hurried out of the door, knocking the tea over in the process. The two stopped in their tracks when they found themselves surrounded by aliens. Rose hurried to close the TARDIS door.

"Harriet!" Rose said spotting the Prime Minister, in which the Prime Minister responded with a hug.

"Rose! Where have you been? Where's the Doctor?" Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, asked looking at her, fairly scared.

"He's not here right now… he's been called elsewhere for the moment," Rose replied biting her lower lip.

"The girl with the blue box will represent her people," the leader alien said, translated by the translator.

"But she can't," Harriet replied, but Rose shook her head.

"I'll speak on behalf of the humans," Rose assured Harriet.

"Dear-" Harriet began, but Rose cut her off.

"Someone has to take his place when he's not here," Rose replied. Harriet backed away and allowed Rose to go forward. "I speak on behalf of the human race. I command you, under the authority of the… Shadow Proclamation, ruled by the mighty Jagrofest, and under the protection of the Gelf… and the… the Daleks too, that you leave this world in peace!" Harriet really hoped it would work, but she didn't seem to be very confident with her delivery, as if she were just placing names of aliens in some sort of order that could make sense. A roar of laughter came from the crowd.

"We do not care about shadows," the leader proclaimed, again translated by the translator, "Nor their proclamations. You are all that this world has to offer? Surrender, or one-third will die." The group looked at each other, and Rose sighed, having failed doing what the Doctor was able to do fairly easily, at least it seemed so. "I will first kill the girl. So bold in her attempt. But she will die, as an example," the leader continued, but this time, his words seemed to be English as he spoke, confusing the group.

"You're speaking English," Rose pointed out.

"I would never poison my tongue with such a primitive language," the leader proclaimed in disgust.

"But that's English, no doubt," Rose said, "Which means, that if you're not speaking it…" She looked towards the TARDIS, "The TARDIS is translating… which means…" As she trailed off, everyone was looking back at the TARDIS as a man came bounding out of it, with a smile on his face.

"Fantastic! I never thought I'd see the day when the humans come out of their world and meet their first true aliens; major turning point for the human race," the Doctor said joyfully, "Well, maybe eventually, just not with this face." He spotted Harriet and smiled, "Prime Minister, now? Good job. Britain's golden age, as they always say." The Doctor turned to Rose and smiled from ear to ear. "I never thought I'd say it, but your mum was right, all I need was some tea. Into the TARDIS, and cleared up my passages really nicely."

"Doctor…" Rose said watching his eyes, he returning the gaze happily.

"Who are you?" the leader commanded. The Doctor looked away from Rose and crossed his arms.

"I could ask you the same thing," the Doctor replied, his smile faded.

"We are the Sycorax!" the leader yelled out in frustration, "Who are you?"

"The Doctor, pleasure to meet you," the Doctor said.

"You will be champion of these cattle, then," the leader commander.

"Fine with me," the Doctor said, bounding up the stairs behind the leader seeing a console, "If I'm not mistaken…" the Doctor leaned down and opened the panel, placing his finger on a pool of blood, "Blood control. No wonder I haven't met you before. Out of all the aliens in the universe, you are the only ones I have yet to meet. Oh, sure, stories are told, but you lot never do anything important. This is why. Blood control. Haven't seen that since… centuries ago, really. And you know what the best thing about blood control is?" There was silence. He raised his hand to a big red button.

"No!" Harriet, Rose and everyone yelled at once. The Doctor smiled, before he pushed the button.

"Can't kill anyone," the Doctor said, his smile returning, "You see, blood control can't go against the natural instincts, can't make someone die. They're all free now."

"Blood control was only one of our ways of conquering," the leader asserted.

"I'm sure," the Doctor shrugged, "However, I won't let you take this world."

"And what will you do to stop us?" the leader asked.

"I challenge you to a duel," the Doctor replied pulling a sword from a nearby alien and pointing it at the leader, "Normal intergalactic rules of dueling. If I win, you leave. If I lose, you get this planet."

"Agreed," the leader said. Rose hurried to the Doctor's side.

"Are you sure?" Rose asked.

"Only way to speak the warrior language, through dueling. This face is fairly good at it, at least in videogames," the Doctor replied with a nod.

"You don't know if you can in real life?" Rose asked, eyes wide.

"Nope," the Doctor replied before smiling, and running towards the leader, whose sword was pulled, attacking him. The two exchanged blows, pushing each other until they were outside, near the edge of the rock-like ship. The Doctor was near the edge, and the leader smiled, pushing the Doctor, to where he fell onto the ground, near the edge. The Doctor smiled before rolling away and holding his sword to block the next blow to come. He stood up once more, and hit the leader in the stomach with the hilt of the sword, before holding the leader at the edge of the ship at the point of his sword.

"I win," the Doctor said, "Swear upon your gods that you will leave this world alone." The leader looked at the Doctor and grunted.

"I swear," the leader replied. The Doctor dropped the sword to his side and turned towards Rose who had followed the fight with the other humans outside. The two ran towards each other and embraced each other in a hug for a moment, before they held hands and made their way towards the TARDIS, which was indoors. However, the leader began running forward towards the Doctor. He sighed, before letting go of Rose's hand, turning around, stabbing the leader in the gut in one fluid motion, dropping the sword as well.

"Won't kill him," the Doctor said, "It'll make him hurt for several weeks."

"You could've died," Rose noted, as the two walked towards the TARDIS the other humans following.

"How long have you known me? Have I ever once died on you?" the Doctor asked.

"I thought you did," Rose said quietly.

"Don't worry about that," the Doctor replied, "I'm here, and I'll explain that to you later, promise. Cross my hearts." He was smiling widely again, in the robe he had been wearing. "I want my jacket back."

"Of course. You look better with the jacket anyways," Rose commented. They were at the main hall where the blue box was, and the Doctor looked around at the many Sycorax and scowled at them.

"You go, you run back to your home. You go back to the stars. But when you do, spread the word; if they hear of this world's riches, its resources, the wealth of the planet, tell them this. Stay away. If they try to harm this world, I will stop them. This world is protected. It will not fall," The Doctor announced loudly to the group. At that moment the Sycorax transporter lowered them down back to Earth, now they were by the TARDIS and the Doctor made his speech.

"We're back," Rose stated, "You did it." She hugged the Doctor, letting go of his hand to do so, and smiled. The two celebrated, along with Mickey, while Harriet and the translator were off to the side.

"Earth owes you a great debt," Harriet said, the ship retreating from the skies. However, green beams came from around London, connecting, heading straight for the ship. The Doctor's face grew grim, he and Rose broke their embrace.

"Do you know what you have done, you stupid ape?" the Doctor asked, his attitude quite furious.

"I am protecting our world. One day, you won't be there for us. We need to show them that we can take care of ourselves, not depend on another alien to protect us," Harriet explained.

"You killed all of them! There were innocent people aboard who didn't do anything against you, it was the government, not everyone on the ship!" the Doctor growled.

"That depends on what your definition of people is, Doctor," Harriet replied. The Doctor crossed his arms and stared at her furiously.

"Britain's Golden Age, yeah. Where you kill everything that isn't human, that is different. That is genocide. You just committed mass murder," the Doctor said.

"I did it for my people," Harriet asserted.

"It will be the last thing you do, I'm sure. I can bring you down with a single word," the Doctor warned.

"You may be powerful, but even I doubt you could do that," Harriet replied disbelievingly.

"No… you're right… just six," the Doctor said, reconsidering his word choice. He walked over to her assistant and whispered into his ear. "Don't you think she looks tired?" With that he walked away, leaving Harriet and her assistant behind, placing an arm around Rose's shoulders as they walked away.

It was later; the Doctor was by the TARDIS, and Rose, Mickey and Jackie were by him. He stood by the door, leaning against the other side of the front, his jacket and normal attire back on, smiling at Rose.

"'Course I'm coming," Rose said.

"Don't want to stay with your family?" the Doctor said, giving her a chance to stay behind.

"I'll be back for them, eventually. Visits, phone calls, but I want to stay with you, Doctor," Rose replied fairly certain.

"Rose," Jackie said, "Please come back soon."

"I will, Mum," Rose promised, "Take care of her while I'm gone; will you, Mickey? I know, we're… really not together anymore, but I want her to be take care of… please?"

"Of course I will," Mickey replied with a small smile, hugging Rose for a moment, "What are mates for?"

"Thank you," Rose said with a huge smile, before turning towards the Doctor, "Barcelona, then?"

"If that is what you want." The Doctor said with a nod, heading into the TARDIS.

"Sounds good," Rose said, and entered the TARDIS, waving at her mum and Mickey before closing the door behind the two of them. "First thing's first. What happened to you?"

"I regenerated. I explained that to you before it happened," the Doctor said, pressing a few buttons and fiddling with the panel.

"You said you'd be different, though," Rose urged.

"I thought I would. But you stopped it, Rose," the Doctor said, stopping his work and looked towards Rose, "You looked into the heart of the TARDIS. You were granted powers, but I sucked up the power from you."

"I… I do remember being here and trying to do that," Rose said, not remembering the event clearly, "Then… I was on the TARDIS with you. But… what does that have to do with you… regenerating?"

"It's like drinking a glass of water, there are still drops of it left," the Doctor explained, sighing a bit, "I wasn't able to rid you completely of that power. It would've killed you if I hadn't, and now some little droplets remain… When I was regenerating… I think… I'm not sure, but I believe that you summoned these traces, and stopped me from changing. I regenerated into the same person I was before." Rose looked at him curiously.

"I won’t pretend I really understand it… but… has it ever happened before?" Rose asked.

"I don't think a human ever took in the Time Vortex before, so no," the Doctor replied with a grin, "Let's get going, no time to dwell on that anyways, we have the universe to explore."

"Ok, let's go," Rose agreed with a nod.

"To Barcelona, the planet with dogs with no noses, we go," the Doctor said flipping a switch starting the TARDIS engine.


	2. The Girl in the Fireplace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After picking up Mickey, the crew of the TARDIS end up on a spaceship with a time windows, including a fireplace that leads to 19th Century France, all centering around the life of Madame de Pompadour. Why are the clock work droids after the mistress of the King of France?

_He ran, ran, and ran, as fast as he could. He saw the TARDIS right in front of him, so close, and then… BAM! He was hit to the ground. Attempting to struggle was futile, and his arms were forced behind his back._

_“I’m innocent, I tell you,” he insisted._

_“Tell that to the queen,” the man who had chased him down and captured him replied gruffly. He struggled against the handcuffs and the guard but never managed to get free. He was thrown to the ground nearby a wooden platform which had nooses hanging from them. In front of him sat a large woman with a huge dress which made her look even larger. Her face was dabbed with pink blush and hair up in a curly bun._

_“Doctor!” the woman said loudly, her voice echoing through the area, “You have stolen the crown jewels of the Great and Bountiful Human Empire! How do you plead?”_

_“Not guilty,” he said firmly._

_“You have plead not guilty,” a man who stood beside the woman announced loudly, “The queen has found you guilty. Your sentence is death by hanging.”_

_“What? Where’s the fair trial?” He asked his voice cracking slightly, “There’s no proof!” There was no reply, but the guard who had captured him forced him to his feet. He struggled as much as he could, but he was slowly lead up to the nooses, a rope being slung around his neck. “I did nothing! I didn’t steal anything. Please, listen to me!”_

_“Your sentence will be carried out,” the man next to the woman said hitting his fist against his own chest, “In the name of the great Queen Francine, the Doctor is found guilty. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”_

_The surface from beneath his feet was removed quickly, and he tensed up, trying to prevent the choking sensation, but feeling his passageways beginning to collapse._

_WHIP!_

_An arrow zipped past, cutting the rope, causing the Doctor to fall to the ground below the platform. Quickly, the Doctor undid the rope and took cover. A woman wearing green jumped into the field, wielding a bow, pointing the arrow at the queen._

_“Hear me! No one shall ever harm an innocent on this planet ever again. In the name of Robin Hood, I free this man from your rule,” the woman said pointing the bow to the side, firing the arrow, which lodged itself into a tree. She grabbed his hand and began running towards a nearby forest._

_“My ship,” he said looking at the woman as they ran, “It’s just through there.” He pointed through a few trees._

_“Sorry about that,” the woman said with a laugh as the two headed the direction he indicated, “Couldn’t let you take the blame for what I did, after all. Just in time, eh?_

_“I had faith,” he replied laughing as well, “Nice to see you again, Robin.” They stopped in front of the blue box he nearly had gotten to before, looking for the probably following guards in case. “So, will you reveal your real name to me, at least?”_

_“A true hero never reveals her secret identity,” the woman replied with a grin as the running of guards began in the distance. He quickly opened the door and stepped in, only his head poking out._

_“Then I’ll see you around, Robin,” he said with a click of his tongue, tucking his head into the TARDIS._

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked into the confused set of eyes in front of him. He removed his hands from the side of her face and turned around, back to the console of the TARDIS. Rose, the owner of the set of eyes he looked into, processed the memory as fast as she could, thinking on it. Mickey entered the control room with a sandwich in his hand.

"Did I miss something?" Mickey asked taking a bite of the sandwich seeing Rose's face.

"No, nothing," Rose answered continuing to watch the Doctor at the console, beginning to sonic some of the wires underneath it, "How did you look before?"

"Back then? Oh, I had a bit of a Victorian taste, and long brown hair," the Doctor answered with a smile looking back.

"Back when? Before you met Rose and me?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Exactly," the Doctor answered, "She wanted to see a bit of my life before, so I showed her. Much easier to express that way then through speech. A lot is lost in translation."

"Cool," Mickey said with a smile, taking another bite, "So, where are we going? You finally done with repairs?" They had been suspended in the Time Vortex since their departure as the Doctor went through repairs that had to be done before they landed, due to some malfunction they had taking off.

"Nearly," the Doctor answered, pulling out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and opening a panel in the floor, and pulling a couple wires out pointing the screwdriver in the hole that the panel had covered. Rose smiled at the Doctor.

"I never knew you were telepathic like that," Rose noted, walking up to him, almost ignoring Mickey eating his sandwich nearby.

"You didn't? Well, now you know," the Doctor replied, flashing her a smile before returning to his work.

"You never fail to surprise me. Next I know, you'll be able to breathe underwater," Rose joked.

"I can," the Doctor said looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're kidding me," Rose said dumbfounded staring at the Doctor with disbelief. The Doctor laughed, and looked back at his work.

"I am just kidding," the Doctor replied, "Your face was priceless." However, Mickey began choking, and coughing, having a bit of the sandwich fly from his mouth.

"Sorry," Mickey coughed out, as Rose hurried to his side, and looked at him worried.

"You ok?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, just fine," Mickey replied his eyes watering. Rose rubbed his back with her hand and looked towards the Doctor who stood up, clapping his hands together.

"Ready to land now," the Doctor announced, "As long as Ricky doesn't puke on her, it would mess with her controls and might land us in a supernova."

"Well, you said you would bring me to one eventually," Rose noted, "And its Mickey, Doctor."

"Force of habit," the Doctor waved off and smiled at the two, hitting a lever, landing the TARDIS, "Let's go see where we are." Rose grabbed Mickey's arm, smiling at him before pulling him to the door. The Doctor was not far behind, looked around, and sniffed the air.

"A barbeque?" the Doctor asked.

"Look at me! My first go I get a spaceship," Mickey said looking out a nearby window at outer space beyond the hull.

"This is odd," the Doctor said examining the computer.

"What is it, Doctor?" Rose asked as he clicked a few buttons on the console.

"We're on a spaceship, but where is the crew?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag," Rose noted.

"No life signs," the Doctor said before leaning closer to the controls, "There is something really weird going on here." Rose seemed excited, but Mickey seemed even more excited than she did.

"Look over here," Mickey pointed out, pointing to a fireplace.

"The engines are going on full speed; it's putting out enough energy to punch a hole in the universe," the Doctor said ignoring Mickey, "But…"

"We're not moving," Rose finished looking out the window, "Are the engines broken?"

"They seem to be in working order," the Doctor replied, "I'll have to take a look at –"

"Rose! Doctor!" Mickey said getting their attention, "If we're on a spaceship, why is there a fireplace?" The two looked where Mickey was pointing and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"We're on a spaceship, where the power is turned all the way up, with no crew, and you're worried about a fireplace," the Doctor said crossing his arms, before shaking his head and walking over to the fireplace.

"Be nice," Rose told the Doctor.

"I am!" the Doctor insisted, as he began to look at the fireplace closer. He knocked the wood, and smelled it curiously. "Fantastic!"

 

"What?" Rose asked, Mickey a bit put off of being put down and it turning out interesting indeed.

"Eighteenth century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth century French fireplace," the Doctor squatting closer to the ground and looked through the fire, "Double sided. There's another room through there."

"That's impossible," Mickey pointed out.

"That's the outer hull," Rose finished.

The Doctor smiled and waved through the fireplace. "Hello," the Doctor said in a chipper mood, "I'm the Doctor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor," a girl on the other side of the fireplace replied. Rose and Mickey approached the Doctor curiously. "I'm Reinette."

"Where are you?" the Doctor asked innocently, with his grin sprawled across his face.

"In my bedroom," Reinette replied tilting her head, "Why are you in my fireplace?"

"It's nice and warm here; don't you agree?" the Doctor replied happily.

"Yes, but it's warm out," Reinette pointed out and the Doctor laughed.

"Oh, it is? I couldn't tell," the Doctor replied, "Tell me, Reinette. Where is your room?"

"In my house," Reinette replied with a happy giggle.

"And your house is in…?" the Doctor asked laughing at her reply.

"Paris, of course," Reinette answered.

"Ah, yes, of course, Paris. And… ah, what year is it?" the Doctor asked.

"Seven hundred and twenty seven," Reinette answered promptly. Rose looked through the fireplace seeing the girl. "Who are you?" Reinette asked.

"I'm Rose Tyler," Rose replied completely confused by this fireplace.

"Wha – Oh, she's my friend; she likes the warmth in here as well," the Doctor said looking back at her with that grin on his face that Rose loved so much, and couldn't help but smile in response. The Doctor returned to Reinette.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Rose Tyler," Reinette responded with a smile.

"Well, this has been fun. Stay inside in August. It won't be very pretty then," the Doctor said, before standing up and looking towards Mickey and Rose (she had stood up the same time as the Doctor had). "I think we've found out hole."

"What hole?" Mickey asked.

"I told you, this ship is generating a lot of power. Enough to tear a hole in the universe. Meet our hole," the Doctor said gesturing the fireplace.

"But, this isn't the 18th century, we're ahead of it… so it is like a portal through time and space?" Mickey asked, "Like the TARDIS?"

"Essentially. Difference is this one is not as reliable, and you can't control when it will come out," the Doctor replied and inspected the fireplace once more. "Ah ha!" The Doctor smiled and turned towards them. "I'll be back. Don't wander off." The two looked confused, but the Doctor shot them a smile, before lifting a portion of the fireplace and the fireplace spun. Rose dropped to the ground and looked through the fireplace.

"Are you ok, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Just fine," the Doctor said squatting down and looking at Rose, "Don't wander off." Before Rose could respond, he stood back up and approached the bed. Rose stood up and looked at Mickey, before beginning to walk off.

"What are you doing?" Mickey asked.

"Wandering off," Rose replied with a laugh, continuing her walk off.

"He said not to," Mickey noted following her.

"But he's not here now," Rose said with a smile.

"We could get hurt," Mickey replied.

"By what? There are no life signs on the ship, so as long as we're careful, we'll be fine," Rose said continuing walking around the ship, to the TARDIS and beyond. Meanwhile, the Doctor entered the young French girl's room walking with that bit of swagger he always had in his step. The young girl now in her bed awoke, sitting up and looking at him, as the Doctor approached her.

"Stay there," the Doctor ordered, "Don't worry, I'm just having a look around."

"Doctor, you're here," Reinette said quietly doing as he said.

"I am. We were just talking in the fireplace, I thought to pay a visit and have a chat," the Doctor replied.

"That was weeks ago," Reinette noted.

"It was? Must be something wrong with it. I'll have a talk with the maintenance team and get it fixed," the Doctor replied with his grin all over his face.

"What are you doing here?" Reinette asked. The Doctor looked at her.

"Your clock, it's broken," the Doctor pointed out looking at her mantle and returning his gaze, the smile slightly faded.

"So?" Reinette asked. The Doctor looked around and leaned near her.

"Where's the ticking coming from?" the Doctor whispered in her ear, before retreating back to a normal standing stance farther away from her, "Don't worry. Don't be scared."

"I'm not. I have you," Reinette replied, "You'll protect me. What is it?"

"Hmmmm…" the Doctor looked slightly up thinking and listening to the sound, "About six feet tall. Like a man. The resonance suggests… some sort of clockwork man. That's what I would guess… stay on your bed, alright?' Reinette nodded, as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and bent down to the bottom of the bed and scanned the underside of her bed, the sonic screwdriver getting knocked out of his hand and across the room. He quickly popped up taking a step back. "Don't look behind you." The Doctor placed a hand on her head and looked into her eyes before looking at the robot with a white mask with designs on it and this era French attire. "They're scanning your head."

"Why would they do that?" Reinette asked.

"What could be so important to blow a hole in space and time that is locked inside this girl's head?" the Doctor wondered looking at the robot.

"Why are you scanning my head?" Reinette asked turning towards the robot, "Do you want me?"

"Not yet. You are incomplete," the robot replied.

"Incomplete? For what?" the Doctor asked, but the robot did not respond, "Tell me you big clock man! If you answer her, you can answer me!" The robot moved from around the bed and towards the Doctor.

"Careful Monsieur," Reinette cautioned the Doctor. The robot extended a blade and the Doctor watched the blade, backing up a bit. He bent over for a second, picking up his sonic screwdriver, as the robot made a slash at the Doctor, which he dodged.

"Don't worry; I can take care of myself," the Doctor replied, "It's a… nightmare." The Doctor dodged another slash of the blade, nicking his jacket, and getting stuck in the fireplace. "Oi! Watch it!" He smiled at Reinette as if he wasn't just upset about the nick on the jacket. "Everyone has nightmares."

"Even monsters under the bed?" Reinette asked.

"Oh yes. Especially monsters from under the bed," the Doctor answered.

"What could they possibly be afraid of?" Reinette wondered. The Doctor's smile was gone at the moment, as the robot made another attempt hitting the fire place getting the blade stuck.

"Who else?" the Doctor replied, before his smile sprouted once more covering his face. , "Me." He activated the fireplace and it spun around. On the other side, the robot's blade was freed, just as Mickey and Rose ran around the corner, laughing. The Doctor tried to hold off the slicing blade of the robot, as Rose noticed, and jumped into action. She quickly picked up a nearby fire extinguisher and used it on the robot, causing it to freeze.

"Don't tell me you two wandered," the Doctor said looking at the two, after dusting his hands off.

"Then… uh, we didn't wander off," Rose replied with a small smile on her face, appearing like a kid worried like she was going to get a talking to.

"Let's take a look at this thing," the Doctor said straight faced and lifted his hand to take off the mask.

"Why was it dressed like that?" Mickey wondered.

"Field trip to France," the Doctor answered simply and took off the mask revealing a beautiful piece of clockwork robot head. "Fantastic! You are a fine specimen. Oh, beauty. It is too bad I am going to have to take you apart." He help up the screwdriver and began to take it apart when it moved, no longer frozen, grabbing the Doctor's wrist to stop him, and touched, with its other hand its wrist, disappearing. "Of course. I should have known. Short range transport. Could be still on board. Anyways… be back in a bit." The Doctor turned around towards the fireplace, before looking at the two.

"Don't run off, again," the Doctor ordered, "It's not safe." He activated the fireplace and spun into France. Rose looked at Mickey and the two exchanged looks.

Meanwhile the Doctor arrived in daylight in the room with the fireplace once more and looked around as Rose hurried and picked up another fire extinguisher in the future, as Mickey did as she did and the two began to run off again as a voice came from the fireplace.

"I said, don't wander off you two," the Doctor said sternly through the fire place, "I mean it." The two exchanged looks and looked down at the floor, replacing the fire extinguishers. "Good." Rose bent down and looked at the Doctor through the fireplace.

"Hurry, ok? I don't want to sit here for hours," Rose sighed.

"I promise," the Doctor replied, standing up and turning around to see a woman behind him.

"Oh… hello," the Doctor said with a goofy grin on his face, "I'm looking for Reinette. I wanted to see how she was doing." The woman crossed her arms and looked at him with a questioning smile.

"Reinette! The carriage is waiting," a voice called from out of the room.

"In a minute, Mother," the woman called back.

"Wait… you're Reinette…. My, you've grown," the Doctor said looking Reinette from bottom to top examining just how much she had changed.

"And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you," Reinette replied.

"Right… well… I should go. My friends are waiting on me, and..." the Doctor said rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, "Your mother would not be happy if she found you in here with a strange man."

"You? Strange? I have known you since I was seven years old," Reinette replied raising an eyebrow, uncrossing her arms.

"Er… well, that is true, I suppose. I came the quick route. Only have known you for a few minutes," the Doctor said with a dry laugh.

"You seem to be flesh and blood, but this is absurd. Reason suggests that you cannot be real," Reinette said.

"Oh, you never want to listen to reason," the Doctor replied, his smile slowly growing on his face.

"Your mother is getting restless," another voice called causing Reinette to sigh in frustration.

"Just a moment!" Reinette called back before returning to the Doctor, "So many questions, and so little time." The Doctor was about to turn around, when Reinette grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him into a kiss. The Doctor's eyes widened, and the kiss ended with Reinette rushing from the room. He stood there in shock, nearly frozen in the same position.

"Mademoiselle Poisson!" a voice called as a servant entered the room, "Who the hell are you?"

"Poisson? Reinette Poisson? No! No, no, no, no, no way. Reinette Poisson? Later Madame Etoiles? Later still mistress of Louis the Fifteenth, uncrowned Queen of France? Actress, artist, musician, dancer, courtesan, fantastic gardener!" the Doctor exclaimed hurrying towards the fireplace.

"I asked; who the hell are you?" the servant repeated sternly.

"Nobody," the Doctor answered as the fireplace was activated and he spun around to the spaceship. Rose and Mickey were there waiting for him. He smiled and nodded once quickly. "Now it's time to explore. Where did you go last time?"

"Just a few corridors down," Rose explained.

"You'll never believe what we saw," Mickey replied.

"An eye, as a camera," Rose said happily with a smile.

"It was creepy," Mickey commented.

"Just like the rats in the closet?" the Doctor teased.

“It was dark,” Mickey defended.

"Come on, let's explore." The three walked down the corridors, the Doctor seeing the camera they were talking about and found a heart in the circuits, which made Mickey freak out, and Rose look grossed out. The Doctor on the other hand was intrigued. However, in the middle of their search, a horse found their way to following them.

"Why are you following me?" the Doctor asked the horse, before pulling out a bag, "I see, a jelly baby, you want one." He pulled out a candy and showed it to the horse. "It won't make you sick, they settle in almost all stomachs." The horse ate the candy and neighed.

"We're not keeping the horse," Rose noted.

"But we're getting so close," the Doctor replied petting the horse, "Plus, I let you keep Ricky."

"Mickey," Rose corrected him, "and we don't need a horse."

"We don't need a Mickey," the Doctor replied as they walked down the hall, and the Doctor finding a set of doors open. "Is this where you came from?" The horse stood there in response. "Oh good." The Doctor walked through the doors the two of them following him through, ending up outside near a courtyard looking area. The Doctor stretched.

"Nice to get some fresh air," the Doctor said happily, before he immediately fell to the ground behind a stone fence. The Doctor pulled Rose down with him, and Mickey peered forward.

"What?" Rose asked trying to get back up but the Doctor held her down.

"Reinette is right over there. Can't let her see us or things could get awkward," the Doctor said, "She doesn't know Ricky so it doesn't matter if he is there."

"Mickey," Rose corrected the Doctor once more, "Did something happen between you two?"

"No, nothing. Nothing at all," the Doctor replied a little too quickly.

"Doctor…" Rose said in a hushed threat.

"She kissed me, all right?" the Doctor admitted, "Let's get out of here." He began crawling towards the door and entered it, standing back up.

"Ok, so what is a horse doing on a space ship?" Mickey asked once the three of them were back on the spaceship with the horse.

"What's pre-revolutionary France doing on a space ship?" the Doctor retorted.

"She kissed you?" Rose asked out of the blue, and the Doctor looked at her with a bit of a frown.

"Well, yeah. I mean I couldn't stop it," the Doctor answered.

"She's known you for an hour or so, and she's already in love with you?" Rose asked.

"Well, not necessarily in love with me. She just… likes me, that's all," the Doctor answered.

"Oi! You two," Mickey interrupted, "Can you explain to me what is going on?"

"Apparently everyone is kissing the Doctor," Rose said grumpily. Ignoring her grump status at the moment, the Doctor looked towards Mickey, before walking down the corridor.

"Windows of time," the Doctor explained as the other two followed him. He stopped by a window in one of the walls, where Reinette stepped into the room beyond, apparently not seeing them despite their ability to see her. "Gateways into history revolving around the life of one individual in particular. Madame de Pompadour." The Doctor watched Reinette adjusting her hair. "I'm going to find out why. Stay here."

The Doctor pushed the doorway open and entered the room. Rose watched closely and listened as the Doctor and Reinette conversed together.

"Doctor!" Reinette said surprised to see him, "What are you doing here?" Rose soon came forward through the mirror with a fire extinguisher.

"Stand back," Rose ordered, and the Doctor turned around to see a clock work masked robot teleported into the room behind him, hiding out of the way so Reinette didn't see it either. Rose attacked it with the fire extinguisher freezing it.

"Thank you, Rose," the Doctor said with a smile on his face, "Let's ask the culprits themselves then. Why are you following this woman?" There was no answer.

"Answer him," Reinette ordered, "Answer anything you are asked."

"She is compatible," the robot answered.

"Good work, Reinette," the Doctor said with his smile growing and turning back to the robot with his hands behind his back, "Compatible with what, exactly?"

"She is compatible," the robot answered.

"What do you need her for?" the Doctor said his smile slowly fading as the robot began to get on his nerves.

"We do not have the parts," the robot answered.

"For the damage on the ship?" the Doctor asked.

"Affirmative," the robot said.

"What about the crew, what happened to them?" the Doctor asked.

"We did not have the parts," the robot replied.

"But that has nothing to do with the crew. What happened to them?" the Doctor pressed.

"We did not have the parts," the robot repeated.

"Oh no. Don't tell me you… you used the crew for parts," the Doctor trailed off his face showing the dawning of terrible new information that he came up with.

"What?" Mickey asked.

"The eye, the heart. They used the crew… to repair the ship," Rose said her eyes wide.

"Barbeque, that's what the smell was… human flesh," the Doctor said watching the robot closely, "It was just doing as it was programmed to. Repair the ship and take parts from wherever they could be found… But why did you come to 18th century France?"

"We lack one more part," the robot answered.

"Why haven't you taken it?" the Doctor asked.

"She is incomplete," the robot answered. The Doctor turned towards Reinette and then back to the robot.

"Oh, so she's the last part. You keep opening windows up and checking to see if she's done yet," the Doctor said.

"Why her?" Rose asked curiously.

"We are the same," the robot replied.

"We are not the same," Reinette said angrily.

"We are the same," the robot repeated.

"Out! Get out! We are not the same!" Reinette ordered fairly loudly.

"No!" the Doctor said reaching for the robot but it had already teleported away. He sighed and looked towards Rose and Mickey, the horse not far behind. "Take Mickey and the horse; go after it. Don't approach it, just watch what it does. I'll follow soon." He flashed a smile at Rose. "I trust you." Rose studied him, thinking of how he would be alone with this woman who he already had kissed, even if she initiated it. She nodded.

"I trust you too," Rose replied before taking Mickey by the shoulder and pulling back into the ship. The Doctor smiled and turned back to Reinette.

"I am going to finally find out why those things are coming after you." The Doctor held up his hands in front of her face. "Trust me, all right?"

"Of course, Doctor," Reinette said with a curt nod. The Doctor placed his hands the side of her head and closed his eyes.

"If there is anything you don't want me to see imagine a door closing and I won't peek… Memories might come back up as well," the Doctor instructed.  
"You can see anything," Reinette replied, "I will keep no secrets from you." The Doctor was very arrogant about the fact Reinette obviously liked him and was falling for him, because it was a very nice ego boost, but also was slightly uncomfortable knowing Rose would be a bit upset about all of it, and already was.

"Ok…" the Doctor responded, "Now… What are they scanning for?" The two stood for a few moments in silence.

"So alone… Always alone even while a child," Reinette said and the Doctor was confused.

"What? Your childhood is just happy; not alone not ever, really," the Doctor stated confused.

"A door once opened can be stepped through in either direction," Reinette replied, "My Lonely Angel; My Doctor."

"Erm, yeah," the Doctor said taking his hands off her head, looking at her with a straight face, "How old are you?"

"How pertinent a question so early in the conversation; how promising," Reinette said with a chuckle.

"Not my question," the Doctor said, "Theirs. You're twenty-three and that means you are not done. Why?"

"I do not know," Reinette replied, "However, your friends they can wait, can't they?"

"I suppose for a little while," the Doctor said looking back not seeing Rose anymore, her having followed his orders.

"Dance with me," Reinette said holding out her hand.

"Oh no, I can't," the Doctor replied backing up a little bit not taking her hand.

"The world doesn't end if the Doctor dances, does it?" Reinette asked.

"It's not that. I mean…" the Doctor sighed, "It's the night you dance with the king, make him fall in love with you, I can't possibly…"

"It's about Rose, isn't it?" Reinette asked with a small smile.

"No, of course not!" the Doctor insisted.

"I see how you look at her. Even when I was a child, I could tell. I always wanted to have someone look at me that way. You really do care for her a lot, Doctor. Would you at least… give me one dance?" Reinette asked. The Doctor studied her for a moment.

"Fine," the Doctor answered with a small nod offering his hand to her this time, which she took and the two walked from the room.

Meanwhile, having tried to follow one of the clockwork men, Rose and Mickey had been captured just moments after leaving. Of course, they were knocked out, for who knows how long, and the Doctor had yet to come rescue them. Rose was beginning to come around, snapping into reality as Mickey nearly shouted.

"Where are we? Where's the Doctor?" Mickey asked loudly seeing the clockwork men around him.

"Calm down, Mickey," Rose said calmly on the outside but panicking on the inside, "He'll save us. I trust him." The clockwork men soon came to her and looked at her through those ugly masks. "You're in for a world of hurt, you know that."

One of the clockwork men had a blade come from its arm, causing Rose's heart to leap before she calmed herself down a bit, the panic beginning to set in. "You know, the Doctor is going to come and he'll –" A loud sound came from down the corridor nearby. "He'll stop you," she raised her voice over the loud sound which almost sounded like… singing, "You know the Daleks? You know what they called him? The –" The Doctor came flying into the door.

"Hello!" the Doctor said loudly waving at the machines and walking up to Rose, a goblet in his hand full of what was presumably wine.

"Oh, look what the cat dragged in, the oncoming storm!" Rose scoffed not believing the Doctor had made his entrance in such a way.

"Oh, look who sounds like her mother," the Doctor replied mocking her and laughed out loud.

"Where've you been?" Rose asked frustrated.

"In France!" the Doctor said with a laugh walking away from Rose and towards the clockwork man with the blade near Rose, "That was a great party. Rose, always bring a banana to a party, remember that. Always useful. And full of potassium. Potassium is good. Bananas are good."

The Doctor approached the clockwork man a bit closer. "They've been scanning Madame de Pompadour's milometer! You know why?" He paused and when no one answered he continued on, bringing him close to Rose and telling her with a grin on his face. "To see how old she is! Because for who knows what reason when she's thirty-seven years old, she'll be compatible. You know why thirty-seven?" No one answered again. "Because this ship is thirty-seven years old! But why Madame de Pompadour?"

"She is compatible," the robot said mechanically.

"But why?" the Doctor asked approaching the robot cocking his head to the side, "Why her?"

"She is compatible," the robot repeated. The Doctor giggled. Rose looked at him incredulously. The Doctor giggling? That just wasn't Doctor-like. What the heck was wrong with him? He surely wasn’t drunk… was he?

"You probably think this is wine too," the Doctor said indicating his goblet, before his smile and drunken look vanished in an instant replaced by a look that could kill, taking the robot's mask off and pouring whatever was in the liquid over the robot's head, shutting it down and the others as well. "Come on," the Doctor said quickly freeing Rose then Mickey. He looked at the robot which was shut down and smirked. "Seems they are very thick." Rose punched him in the arm before he could do anything about it quickly, and quite hard.

"Oi! What was that for?" the Doctor asked rubbing the spot she had hit.

"You were gone for hours!" Rose answered, "Not even a word we heard from you. We could have been dead, if you were just a moment later."

"But I wasn't," the Doctor said, smirking, stopping rubbing his arm and placed his hands in his pockets, "It all turned out for the better." Rose was about to reply to that, however, an alarm went off. "They still have one out there." The robots stood back up and the Doctor tried to dive to hit a switch, but the robots already hit a button on their arms and teleported away.

"What does that mean?" Mickey asked a bit panicked.

"They've found the right window. Come on, we've got to hurry," the Doctor said quickly taking Rose's hand and grabbing Mickey's arm to lead the two of them away.

* * *

"They're going to come for you," Rose said quickly, looking at Reinette.

"Why can't he tell me this himself?" Reinette asked standing up seeing Rose.

"There isn't time. Sometime after your thirty-seventh birthday, they will come again," Rose explained quickly.

"That is years away, how is there no time?" Reinette wondered watching Rose curiously.

"It isn't the same for us. What is happening in your future, is happening right now for us," Rose answered biting her lower lip, "It's like… There is a ship in the future, where there are windows into your life. A different points, all happening at the same time."

"So he can just step into my life, without any time passing, as I travel along the slow path," Reinette said to confirm; Rose nodded. "That is very rude of him. To never age a single day while I wither away and die."

"Tell me about it," Rose said with a bit of a chuckle, and seeing her confused look she added, "He lives much longer than you or I. Over 900 years old now, he is."

"But it is worth it… he is worth it all, even the monsters, for an angel like him," Reinette replied and Rose nodded once more. "So what am I supposed to do when they arrive?"

"Keep them talking until he can get there," Rose answered slowly backing towards a time window.

"Rose!" Mickey's voice came and walked through the window, "He's found it; right under our noses! Come on."

"I have to go," Rose said backing towards the time window still.

"If he's in there," Reinette said hurrying after her going through the time window and looking around.

"Doctor, Doctor. If you can hear me, they are here. You promised you would come," Reinette's voice said through the ship.

"That's my voice," Reinette said, Rose looking nervously at her, "That is my future."

"Yeah," Rose replied.

"Then I must take the slow path," Reinette affirmed. She looked at Rose and smiled lightly. "Take care of him." Mickey laughed.

"No one can take care of that man," Mickey said. Reinette laughed softly to herself.

"Until then," Reinette said turning around and walking out of the ship. The two closed the window and they both ran towards the window where the Doctor was standing by.

"No entrance," the Doctor said pressing a couple of buttons on the console before crossing his arms.

"Could you just smash through?" Rose asked.

"It would close them all off," the Doctor answered looking at Rose with a very serious look, the horse walking up next to her, "I would not be able to return." Rose watched the Doctor.

"What can I do? Can I help?" Mickey asked.

"I might be able to slow down the progression time, but it wouldn't buy us much time," the Doctor said, "For that I would need my temporal displacement modulator, from my room. It's just on the desk, the only thing on there." Mickey nodded and Rose gave him her key, hurrying in the TARDIS.

"Rose," the Doctor said slowly turning to her.

"You can't slow down time in there, can you?" Rose said with a soft smile walking closer to the Doctor who was looking at her with a worried look.

"No, I can't," the Doctor answered.

"You're going to smash through, aren't you?" Rose asked.

"I am," the Doctor replied simply.

"Doctor," Rose said softly, the Doctor uncrossing his arms and taking a step towards her, Rose taking a step towards him.

"Before I go, I want you to know, I do care about you, very much." He pulled out a disk from his pocket. "This will bring you back home. I'll wait for you, alright? I might be a couple hundred years older, but I will come for you. I promise."

"I can't," Rose said shaking her head, "What if you find a way back?"

"Don't wait long for me," the Doctor said, "There will be little chance." The Doctor handed the disk to her, which she took, the two standing quite close.

“Still a chance,” Rose replied, her voice cracking slightly as he eyes began to water. The Doctor wiped a tear off her face with his thumb. He placed a hand on her face, leaning in and placing his lips on hers. She responded quickly, her lips moving against his, as her tongue bravely inched forward, making it to his front lip, before he took the chance to deepen the kiss, his arms wrapping around her, pressing her body against his. Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Time seemed to freeze while the Doctor quickly jumped on the horse, the absence of him already stinging.

"I'll wait for you," Rose said looking at him on the horse.

"As I will, for you," the Doctor replied before riding ahead through the window, taking one last look back at Rose before the window disappeared. Mickey came running out of the TARDIS with a box shaped object looking around.

"Did he…?" Mickey asked looking at Rose, whose tears are running down her face. He set the box down and hugged her tightly. "He'll be back. He always is."

Meanwhile, the Doctor smashed through the glass, on his horse, which he jumped off of, and crossed his arms looking at the robots with a smile.

"Good afternoon, Madame De Pompadour," the Doctor said as if he didn't just smash through the now brick wall leaving only the broken mirror as evidence, "Looking younger every day."

"What the hell is going on?" a man, the king of France asked indignantly looking at the Doctor.

"This is my lover, the King of France," Reinette introduced with a smile.

"I'm here to fix your clock problem, Your Majesty," the Doctor said as he walked up to the droids. He took off one of the robot's mask seeing the clockwork underneath the blade being held at his throat. "Forget it. It's over. For you and for me. Talk about seven years of bad luck. Try two hundred… ish."

The Doctor looked back up at the brick wall before looking back at the clock work man. "The link with the ship is broken. No way back. You don't have the parts. How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." The robot slowly began to stop ticking and soon fell over, the others following in its lead.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked turning towards Reinette who was on her knees.

"The better question is, are you?" Reinette asked, standing up watching the Doctor's eyes. The Doctor placed his hands in his pockets.

"Perfectly fine," the Doctor answered with a mouth closed smile. Reinette offered a hand, and the Doctor hesitated before taking it. The two left the room and entered a little hall and sat on a seat near a window.

"You should have stayed," Reinette said quietly.

"I couldn't have just left you here for them to kill you," the Doctor answered.

"Of course not, that wouldn't be you," Reinette said, "But you have her. You gave her up to save me."

"Not forever. She'll go home and spend time with her family, and then I'll show up, 200 years from now," the Doctor answered.

"200 years is a long time," Reinette replied looking out at the stars.

"I know all their names," the Doctor said changing the subject.

"I saw that, in your head," Reinette replied with a smile holding the Doctor's hand tight.

"Yeah, that's right," the Doctor said looking at the stars with her.

"What's that one?" Reinette asked pointing at the sky.

"Sirius," the Doctor answered, "No life supporting planets, but it does have a twin star, Sirius II." The two fell silent, Reinette's grip on his hand slowly faltering.

"I wish you could stay here on the slow path with me," Reinette said quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere," the Doctor replied confused.

"Aren't you?" Reinette asked as she pulled him down a hall and then into her bedroom not far away.

"Reinette…" the Doctor began, thinking she was going to try something that he wasn't going to do with her, and he'd have to let her down gently. But then he saw the fireplace. He walked forward, their hands disconnecting and he felt around the fireplace.

"I had it moved here," Reinette explained, "Just in case you were to come back."

"Fantastic!" the Doctor exclaimed looking back at her, his big jolly grin spreading across his face, "When you moved it, you disconnected it from the ship, so it wasn't up when the mirror broke. Which means… If I'm lucky…" He began feeling around the fireplace, finding what he wanted to. “Ha! The bad luck from the mirror seems a myth.” He turned back towards Reinette with that same grin of his. "You can come with me, if you want."

"I would love to," she replied as she slowly approached, "But I can't. It would not be the best for me. I have a life here." The Doctor nodded.

"How about one trip?" the Doctor suggested.

"I… no. I appreciate the offer, Doctor, but I must refuse," Reinette replied nearly accepting the offer.

"Good-bye," the Doctor said his smile a bit smaller, "I might have to come back, if Rose didn't wait for me."

"She will have waited," Reinette replied waving to him, "Good-bye, My Lonely Angel." He looked back for a moment before he pulled the part on the fireplace, activating it. He spun around to the ship and looked around. He didn't see anyone at first until arms quickly wrapped them around him. Rose had come around the corner, and hugged him on sight before he could even see her coming.

"Doctor!" Rose said quietly, her head nestled on his shoulder.

"How long did you wait?" the Doctor asked.

"Nearly five and a half hours," Rose replied pulling back and looking at the Doctor's face which was grinning.

"Fantastic. Always wait five and a half hours," the Doctor said, as Rose planted a kiss on his cheek. It was then the Doctor realized that Mickey was behind her watching them. The two separated, holding each other's hands, and walked to the TARDIS. She handed him the disk before he opened it. He placed it in his pocket.

"So… did we ever find out why it was Madame De Pompadour?" Mickey asked.

"Some mysteries go unanswered," the Doctor answered, unlocking the TARDIS and the three stepped in. The Doctor placed his other hand in his pocket feeling a note that was not in there before. He pulled it out and saw it was addressed to him from Reinette. Rose let go of his hand and looked at the letter curiously.

The Doctor opened it, reading it to himself.

_My Lonely Angel,_

_I know that I was told you would come one more time, and deemed it the time I would give this letter to you. My whole life I have waited for you, and now it is time for me to let you go. You love another; you do not love me. I want you to be happy. Stay with her. Don't leave her alone. Stay happy._

_Reinette_

The Doctor read the letter carefully and slowly folded it back up.

"Reinette?" Mickey asked, sitting on one of the rails around the control console.

"Yeah, she just wrote me a letter to say good-bye," the Doctor answered.

"How did she know?" Rose asked.

"She didn't," the Doctor replied, biting his lower lip before a smile growing on his face and shoving the letter in his pocket. "Where to next?"


	3. Rise of the Cybermen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting stuck in a parallel world, the Doctor faces an old foe.

Rose Tyler wore a rainbow polka dot bikini, the top with ties to hold it on, one around the neck, and one around her body. On her face she wore a large smile as she headed from the changing room onto the tile, looking out at the clear blue water before her, a pool which looked like it had no floor.

"Doctor?" Rose asked looking out at the pool. She walked a little farther, before she slowly stepped in the pool. "Come on!" She was talking fairly loudly now, so he could hear her, "I'm sure you look fantastic." She soon reached a part of the pool where she could no longer walk on the floor of the pool, and began floating, her arms slowly pushing her forward, before deciding to stop. She floated in her position, turning around towards the dressing rooms with a huge smile on her face.

"Doctor!" Rose said with a bit of a giggle coming through, "It's not that big of a deal. Your jacket will there for when you get ba–" She was interrupted by something, a sort of feeling running up the front of her leg. She screamed, kicking whatever it was touching her. Soon out came a familiar man with extremely short hair, big ears who held his cheek with one of his hands.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled out, apologetic in her tone.

"What'd you do that for?" he asked in his unmistakable Northern accent.

"I didn't realize it was you," Rose answered with a worried look, hesitating on reaching for his hand which was covering the spot she had hit, "I'm sorry! So, so sorry!" The Doctor looked at her with an unhappy look, before a grin appeared on his face, though it faded as fast as it could.

"That hurts," he said rubbing the spot a bit.

"Here, let me see," Rose said, taking his hand gently off of his face revealing a large red spot starting to turn purple, "It's bruising."

"Bruising? I'm getting a bruise?" The Doctor asked with a smile, before it faded again as another shoot of pain stabbed his face, "I haven't had one in a long time! Oh, this is fantastic! How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad," Rose said with a giggle at his reaction.

"Red? Oh, is it swelling?" he asked, his smile returning, not going this time, despite feeling the pain of the bruise.

"Yeah, it looks like it is," Rose replied not being able to stop smiling so widely and giggling at him.

"Time Lords don't bruise like this very often," The Doctor said with a laugh, "Though, it does hurt to smile."

"Would it help if I kissed it?" Rose asked placing running her finger tips gently across the bruise on his cheek.

"I think it just might," The Doctor replied not being able to stop smiling no matter how much pain came because of it.

"Alright then," Rose said slowly moving her head to his cheek, gently placing a light kiss on his bruised cheek. She lingered on his cheek for a moment, before slowly moving away from his cheek and watching The Doctor, who in turn watched her, with that grin on his face. For a few moments the two simply watched each other, floating in the water together.

"Geronimo!" came a yell, and the two quickly looked around seeing Mickey dive in from one of the diving boards, soon hitting the water, making a large splash. Rose laughed, and The Doctor kept on smiling, both looking away to keep the water from getting into their eyes. Soon Mickey rose to the top of the water, taking in a large breathe, seeing the two, and swimming over to them.

"I hope I'm not late," Mickey said with a large smile.

"Come here," The Doctor said, as Mickey swam towards them, The Doctor intercepting him, holding his with his arm around the back of Mickey's neck, "You know, us Time Lords are very good with telling time, and I can tell you that you are late. Do you know what the penalty for lateness is?"

"Uh, no, Doctor… what is it?" Mickey asked curiously looking at the Time Lord.

"Dunking," The Doctor replied, pushing Mickey's head into the water as he spoke. When Mickey rose back above the water he grinned, placing his hand behind The Doctor's head, pushing him under the water himself, some of the water getting into his mouth, breathing deeply out, sending bubbles to the surface. Slowly he came back up, taking a deep breath in. The Doctor turned at Mickey, a mischievous look on his face.

"Now it's on?" Mickey said with a bit of a scared look on his face seeing the look in The Doctor's eyes. He simply nodded, before diving in the water, swimming towards Mickey.

"Oh, you two," Rose laughed. The Doctor stopped his assault on Mickey, exchanging a look, and both looked at Rose with mad smiles. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Rose said trying to slowly back away, holding a finger up trying to get the two to back off, but the two continued towards her.

The Doctor dived under the water, swimming below Rose, ending up behind her. Rose turned around, to see the Doctor rise above the surface. She then turned back to Mickey who was then behind her, and then turned so the two were beside her, slowly backing up. "Don't you dare," Rose warned, though behind it, there was a laugh. The Doctor gained distance faster than she thought, reaching her side, hugging her around her waist with a smile. He dived down, taking her with him, submerging both of them in the water, The Doctor holding Rose close to him, his eyes staying open and watching her, as she closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose, as the two came back up.

"I got you," The Doctor said, letting go of Rose, who was breathing heavily.

"You did," Rose said her tongue playing on her teeth, before she quickly pushed The Doctor under the water, him rising and looking surprised at her. "Now I got you," Rose replied with a smile on her face.

"Oh I'm going to get you for th–" The Doctor began, as both of their heads were pushed under the water, the two rising to see Mickey nearby with a victorious look on his face. The three burst out into laughter.

However, it was interrupted by the pool area shaking like an earthquake, sending them back and forth in the water, waves building slightly. The Doctor quickly grabbed ahold of Rose, swimming her to the edge, Mickey following him, and three managed to at least get out of the water, but it was still quaking badly. The Doctor quickly ran, nearly tripping once, out of the room, Rose and Mickey following far behind him. He reached the control room before the other two, and immediately began pulling levers and buttons, hitting it with his hammer, rushing around the room, dripping with water.

"Come on girl," The Doctor said, the lights going out, low lights coming back on, and gas masks dropping from the ceiling, "No! No, no, no, no!"

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"She left on her own… she doesn't normally do that," The Doctor said clenching his teeth and a fist, setting his head on the console, uncurling his fist and rubbing the surface, "I'm sorry, girl. I should have been here. She's… dead." Silence fell between the trio of swim suit clad travelers, still dripping in the low lights in the control room. The Doctor had a very grim look on his face, while the other two were confused.

"What happened, Doctor? She's dead? How? Is that even possible?" Mickey asked looking worriedly at The Doctor.

"She is– was alive!" The Doctor yelled at the same time as Rose nodded to answer Mickey's questions as well, her worry increasing. The Doctor tried calming himself down, turning his head towards Rose, with a pained look. Rose's eyes met his and she quickly hurried forward, wrapping her arms around him. He didn't fight, but he didn't hug her back, standing there limp, now staring blankly at a wall. Mickey finally broke the silence once more.

"I don't understand. Where are we?" Mickey asked, walking towards the TARDIS door, "If I were to open–" Mickey reached for the door, but The Doctor's voice made him jump back.

"Don't!" The Doctor ordered, though his body remained the same, Rose looking up at him when he spoke, "Out there… it's nothing. Nothing is out there." Rose looked confused, though The Doctor did not seem to notice, his look focused towards Mickey now, but he seemed to answer her silent questions. "We fell through a hole in the Time Vortex."

"So?" Mickey asked raising an eyebrow.

"When one falls through a hole in the Time Vortex, they end up in the Void… if my people… were still alive, they could give us a tow, and sew up the hole, but…" The Doctor explained, trailing off, finally wrapping his arms around Rose, holding her closely, "Nothingness… The lost dimension. That's where we are." Mickey huffed, before he turned towards the door again, and pulled it open, The Doctor being distracted.

"So… in other words… London?" Mickey asked turning towards the two. The Doctor quickly looked up, ending the embrace, Rose turning towards the door as well, seeing out the door and into London.

"What?" The Doctor said completely confused. He pushed back Mickey exiting the TARDIS, the other two following him. The Doctor quickly walked down the streets, still in just his swim shorts, gathering looks from those who were walking by. Rose had on a towel, which she grabbed on the way out, around her waist, while Mickey was like The Doctor in just swim trunks. Mickey picked up a newspaper nearby, his hands fairly dry by now.

"First of February, this year. Not far flung, is it?" Mickey asked. The Doctor crossed his arms, stopping, looking out over a bridge.

"London?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, yeah," Mickey answered. Rose saw what The Doctor was getting at, but Mickey was reading the newspaper and did not look up to see what The Doctor saw.

"With zeppelins?" The Doctor questioned. Mickey looked up in confusion, seeing the zeppelins in the sky, the last to see them.

"Well, I dunno. Some new zeppelin festival?" Mickey asked.

"It's not your London," The Doctor said his eyes looking to his side, down the street, then back at the zeppelins in the sky.

"What you're saying is that we're in a parallel world?" Mickey asked.

"Parallel world, where?" Rose asked, not quite understanding, though her eyes followed The Doctor's short glance to the side.

"You know what I mean, you see it in movies. A universe that are slightly changed from ours; this one has zeppelins in the sky," Mickey explained. Rose was completely turned to the side, listening, seeing what The Doctor had seen.

"One where he's alive," Rose pointed out staring at a sign with her father's face on it, with one of his drinks. "Where my dad is still alive." The Doctor turned towards Rose, who had rushed towards the sign, following her, Mickey following behind The Doctor.

"Don't look at it, Rose," The Doctor said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She reached forward, touching the sign, triggering a video where her father said for them to 'trust him on this' smiling.

"He's a success. He was always planning these daft little schemes. Health food, drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless. But he did it," Rose said with a small smile on her face. The Doctor turned her around looking at her very seriously.

"Rose, if you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now. Stop looking at it. Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is a Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you. You can't see him. Not ever," The Doctor explained and Rose bit her lower lip.

"Can we get changed into something more comfortable?" Rose asked looking down at her bikini, getting fairly cold from the damp and the little coverage the bikini provided. The Doctor smiled widely.

"Yeah, let's go," The Doctor answered offering his hand, which she took, Mickey following behind them once more, feeling like a third wheel more and more.

* * *

"All is not lost!" came a shout from across the TARDIS. Rose had been getting changed, and she thought The Doctor was as well, until she heard this shout, coming unmistakably from The Doctor. Of course, her first order of business was to see if she could still call home with her phone, and found herself connected, and had been distracted on learning about this world until the Doctor had yelled.

Rose quickly threw her phone to the side and pulled on her shirt and ran out of her room, and down the hall to the control room, where, her short haired, short clad Doctor was holding up something that was glowing, and it wasn't just the glow that his face was giving off either, with that wide smile, the bruise still purple on his cheek, but completely ecstatic.

"What is it?" Rose asked with a smile which she could help but have because his happiness was very contagious.

"Life, Rose!" The Doctor said jumping around and towards her.

"What?" Rose asked.

"She's not dead. Not yet at least," The Doctor said letting a happy laugh out, "The TARDIS. She's not dead. When there's even the dimmest of light, there is life!" The Doctor held the crystal in front of him. "She just needs some help to recover." He held the crystal close to his mouth and breathed out onto the crystal.

"What'd you do?" Rose asked as the crystal's glow grew as he breathed onto it, completely confused as to what was happening.

"I just saved her. Gave her ten years of my life. She'll be as good as ever in… oh, twenty four hours!" The Doctor said happily. Mickey entered from the TARDIS door at that moment. "She's alive!" The Doctor shouted like a mad scientist.

"We'll be home in a day," Rose replied.

"Well, why are we here in the first place?" Mickey asked, "It's not like we were travelling, just sitting on Earth." The Doctor's face dropped.

"That was my fault. I… turned on a system where the TARDIS would retreat if it were in danger, but as it was trying to guide itself to a safe place… it fell through a hole. All the while we were having fun in the pool. We didn’t know anything until she fell through the hole, right into another universe. Before I could travel easily from one universe to another, but when… my people all died, the walls were closed up. It nearly killed her to get out of the void. I think she used almost all her energy to get us safely here." He placed a hand against the console, "I'm sorry, girl."

"So we have twenty four hours on a parallel world?" Mickey asked.

"Shore leave. As long as we keep our heads down," The Doctor replied some of the bounce in his step and voice returning, "Twenty four hours in this world, then we'll leave, alright?" Rose bit her lower lip and looked down at the floor.

"My phone connected. There's this Cybus Network. It finds your phone. It gave me Internet access," Rose said looking up at The Doctor's now extremely worried look.

"Don't believe anything it says," The Doctor warned, "It's not the right world."

"I don't exist," Rose said, and Mickey raised an eyebrow, but The Doctor stayed calm and firm in his demeanor.

"Then it’s not a universe living in, yes?" The Doctor replied evenly.

"They're rich. They've got a house and cars, and everything they want. But they haven't got me. I've got to see him," Rose said ignoring the Doctor’s reply. She turned and headed for the door, but the Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder, holding her back some. 

"You can't," The Doctor said, "What are you planning on saying? I'm your daughter from another universe where you die? You can't go see him."

"I just want to see him. I won't tell him anything," Rose insisted.

"I can't let you," The Doctor said firmly with a very serious look on his face, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"You just said twenty four hours!" Rose retorted with a huff.

"You can't just go and become their daughter. It doesn't work like that. Right Mickey?" The Doctor turned and looked at the other man who was standing by the door.

"You said twenty four hours, yeah?" Mickey asked looking between The Doctor and Rose, before turning around and pushing open the door.

"Where're you going?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, I can do what I want," Mickey replied, exiting the TARDIS, Rose following, and The Doctor running after them, picking up his jacket from one of the railings and putting it on, still in just his swim shorts, and now his leather jacket.

"I've got the address and everything," Rose said turning back towards The Doctor and the TARDIS, Mickey walking the opposite way.

"Stay! Both of you! You promised you wouldn't wander off!" The Doctor insisted, "Mickey! Rose! Get back here!"

"I'm not wandering, I've got places to go. Specific ones," Mickey stated, turning towards him with a small apologetic smile.

"Me too," Rose said. The Doctor glared at Rose then at Mickey.

"Where do you need to go?" The Doctor asked furiously, though trying to keep himself calm and not frustrated in his two companions.

"Well, you don't know anything about me, do you? It's always about Rose. I'm just a spare part," Mickey said with a shrug.

"That's not true!" The Doctor insisted, but Rose interrupted Mickey's reply.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go," Rose said, making The Doctor look back at her, feeling teamed up on.

"Go on, then. There's no choice, is there? You can only chase after one of us. It's never going to be me, is it?" Mickey asked shaking his head, still watching to see what The Doctor were to do, if it were really even a question.

"Back here, alright? Twenty four hours!" The Doctor ordered, keeping his eye on Rose out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," Mickey replied, and The Doctor ran off after Rose, after which Mickey added under his breath, "If I haven't found something better." Mickey sighed, and ran off the opposite direction that The Doctor and Rose had gone.

* * *

"Mickey's mum just couldn't cope. His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of wandered off. He was brought up by his gran. She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him! And then she died. She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago now. I was still in school," Rose explained when The Doctor caught up to her.

"I never knew," The Doctor replied feeling a bit bad, looking back in the direction of the TARDIS and Mickey's path.

"Well, you never asked," Rose said looking at The Doctor.

"You never said," he responded firmly, "Normally leave the domestics out of everything, including personal history. Usually it's the same old story with you humans."

"We’re all unique,” Rose rolled her eyes slightly And… that's Mickey. I suppose I, we just take him for granted. Do you think she's still alive, his gran?" Rose wondered with a thoughtful look.

"Could be. Or could not. Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can," The Doctor answered. Before Rose could reply, the people around them all stopped, confusing the pair, until the earpieces began blinking.

"They've stopped," The Doctor said walking in front of one of them and waving his hand in front of their eyes, the looking at the earpieces, "It's the earpieces. Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together." Rose pulled out her phone, and looked at it.

"It's on my phone. It's automatic, look. It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting? News, international news, sports, weather, TV schedules, lottery numbers," Rose said reading off the downloaded data, "I hope I don't get charged for all this data."

"They get it direct. Downloaded right into their heads," The Doctor explained with a small chuckle for her last comment, "Everyone shares the same information. A daily download published by Cybus Industries." Everyone laughed, as the daily joke flashed on Rose's phone and continued on with their business. "You lot, you're obsessed. You'd do anything for the latest upgrade."

"Oi, not my lot. Different world, remember," Rose reminded The Still Only Half-dressed Doctor of the situation.

"It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel," The Doctor replied, looking at Rose's phone, which was pulled up on a site about Pete Tyler, following a link to his company's owners, "Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mister Pete Tyler's very well connected." The Doctor frowned and looked at Rose. "This is very familiar."

"Were you here before?" Rose asked curiously, "You did say you could travel between worlds before."

"No, I haven't. Something about Cybus Industries," The Doctor said handing her phone back to her, her eyes meeting his.

"Where else to get more information than Mr. Well Connected himself?" Rose asked with a hopeful smile on her face. He sighed.

"Alright. But only to see him. Won't tell him anything about where we come from, promise?" The Doctor asked.

"I promise," Rose confirmed with a smile, grabbing The Doctor hand and pulling him down the road, running.

* * *

The Doctor still hadn't the time to change from his swim trunks and jacket as they reached the house.

"Mum's birthday, February the first," Rose said explaining the visitors. Limos seemed to pull up to the house, and from the distance they were at, they could see Pete Tyler standing at the front door greeting some of those who just arrived. Rose's face was bright and glowing. The Doctor looked at her next to him, and smiled.

"Do you want to meet him?" The Doctor asked.

"You said I could just see him," Rose replied.

"Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look. I don't see the harm in meeting him, as long as you're careful about what you say," The Doctor replied, to which Rose responded with a wide grin, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you!" Rose said happily.

"And there is one guaranteed way of getting inside," The Doctor said.

"Psychic paper," Rose supplied.

"Who do you want to go as?" The Doctor asked.

* * *

 

The two entered the main room of the house, carrying trays, Rose in a waitress outfit, and The Doctor out of his jacket, and in a tuxedo.

"Out of everything in the world, you pick us as the help?" Rose asked with a huff, carrying a tray with wine on it.

"Best way, isn't? The help get to float around everywhere, not necessarily talk, but overhear everything," The Doctor replied with a smile on his face, as someone took some wine off of his plate.

"What happened to you?" the man who took wine from The Doctor asked The Doctor seeing the bruise on his face.

"The Missus and I had a fight, she can get a bit rough," The Doctor replied glancing at Rose with a wide smile.

"Ah, I see. What did she catch you doing?" the man asked.

"Oh, something I probably shouldn't have been doing," The Doctor admitted.

"I see," the man said with a laugh, "Be careful, now. You don't need another one.”

"I will be sure, sir!" The Doctor replied with a laugh, turning towards Rose who crossed her arms as best she could with the tray in her arms.

"And you couldn't have gotten rid of that bruise before we got here?" Rose asked.

"Why would I? I don't normally get bruises," The Doctor replied with a large smile. Rose hit him in the shoulder with her free hand, uncrossing her arms. "What was that for?" The Doctor asked rubbing the spot she hit.

"Maybe you'll get another bruise," Rose suggested.

"Do you really think?" The Doctor asked excitedly. Rose looked at him incredulously. "I'm just kidding," The Doctor added with a laugh, "I'll get rid of it later, I promise. It's really getting annoying, actually, making my face hurt when I smile. Probably should stop smiling."

“Don’t,” Rose replied with a grin. The two quieted as one of their fellow servers came up to them, a brunette woman with salmon pinwheels.

"You two better stop talking, and start going. The boss will get angry if you don't," the woman warned. The Doctor nodded.

"Sorry, we'll get to work," he apologized.

"Just a fair warning. I won't turn you in or anything," the brunette replied with a laugh, before walking off.

"Thanks," Rose said after her, and smirked at The Doctor before she split from him.

* * *

It was a little while later, Rose had a chat with her father, which ended with Pete going to talk with some guy named Stevie about something about Torchwood. The two had found out anyone that was anyone was at this party, even the president (yes, it was Britain, and yet they had a president, even Rose was shocked). Pete Tyler was most definitely a popular guy, with an important job. And his wife and he were not happy with each other and were splitting up. Rose was determined to get to the bottom of it, but The Doctor caught her before Rose could find her mother.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked. Rose put on a fake smile.

"Of course I am. I mean… I still have Mum at home, these aren't my parents," Rose said though a bit of upset came through, "They have everything…"

"They don't have you," The Doctor replied seriously.

"Yeah… that's right," Rose said biting her lower lip as someone took something from her tray, "We should get to mingling, the boss won't be happy if she finds us." Rose began to walk off. The Doctor caught her shoulder.

"It's not our world, remember that. Remember your mum at home, and your father when we visited him, alright?" The Doctor requested. Rose smiled a bit more, realistically too.

"I promise, I will," Rose replied, and The Doctor let go of her shoulder and the two began doing their job once more. However, it wasn't long before The Doctor snuck his way into an office of Pete Tyler, and began logging onto the computer. It took him two tries to guess the password: JackieTyler4ever. On the screen, already pulled up was a presentation. On it was a face of a man, who began describing how precious a human brain was. He observed the screen for a few more moments, before a grim look spread across his face.

"Cybers," The Doctor whispered to himself. He quickly bounded from the room, as fast as he could, getting to the main room, where he saw Rose, who looked somewhat upset. "Rose," The Doctor said quickly hurrying towards her, but someone caught him.

"You," the man said, holding The Doctor back, "You are ordered by the president of Britain to come with me."

"What'd I do?" The Doctor asked.

"You match the description of The Notorious Doctor," the man said. He was tall with jet black hair that reached his shoulders.

"Now's not the time," The Doctor quickly said, pushing passed the man, "We're all in grave danger."

"Yeah, because you're here, Doctor," the man insisted, "My name is Steve, director of Torchwood. My friends call me Stevie."

"Hm. Interesting. Now, get out of my way so I can save all of your lives," The Doctor insisted, pushing past the man making it to where Rose was, Steve following. "It's happening again."

"What is?" Rose asked, having just talked with her mother about her marriage to Pete Tyler.

"I've seen them before," The Doctor said quickly taking her hand.

"Hold on. What are what?" Steve asked.

"Who is this?" Rose asked.

"Steve this is Rose. Rose this is Steve," The Doctor quickly introduced, "They're coming. Now."

"What are?" Steve asked.

"Cybermen," The Doctor replied, just as tin soldiers smashed through some French doors, causing a panic, but no one could escape, because they were already surrounded. The president took out his phone, which had rung, answering it.

"I forbade this," The president said.

"What are they… robots?" Rose asked.

"Worse," The Doctor simply said.

"How can it be worse?" Steve wondered, and The Doctor shook his head.

"Who were these people?" The president insisted on the phone.

"Hold up. They are people?" Rose asked.

"Were. Their brains were packed into a metal suit, all emotions stripped away," The Doctor explained.

"Why no emotions?" Rose wondered.

"Because they hurt," Steve interjected before The Doctor could reply.

"Exactly," The Doctor agreed watching the Cybermen carefully.

"I demand to know Lumic! Who were these people?" the president demanded his voice raised. While the party goers did not hear Lumic on the other end, they could very well guess what was going on, especially thanks to The Doctor, Rose and Steve talking about these men. "No it is not good night! I demand you call these… damn it, Lumic." The president dropped the phone to his side and shook his head.

"You will be upgraded," the nearest Cyberman said.

"Into what?" The president asked back with frustration seeping through.

"The next level of mankind. We are Human point two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us," the Cyberman replied in the robotic voice.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what's been done to you, but listen to me. This experiment ends tonight," the president insisted, trying to reason with the poor person placed into such a position as the Cyberman.

"Upgrading is compulsory," the Cyberman informed the man, and everyone else at the party.

"And if I refuse?" he asked.

"Don't," The Doctor warned.

"What if I refuse?"

"I'm telling you, don't."

"What happens if I refuse?"

"Then you are not compatible," the Cyberman informed the president.

"What happens then?" he retorted, frustrated at the lack of information.

"You will be deleted," the Cyberman answered, placing his hand on the president's shoulder, electrocuted to death, and the president fell to the floor. Mass hysteria took the guests, people began running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Actually, not. It was more like people running from mass murderers, not wanting to be killed or taken. In the confusion, The Doctor and Rose, managed to sneak passed the men, finding Pete Tyler out of the house, yelling for his wife.

"Come on," Rose insisted, pulling her father with the two of them.

"I can't leave Jackie behind!" Pete insisted.

"You can't do her any good by going back. You'll just end up getting yourself killed," The Doctor reasoned, pulling Pete along, "We need to get out of here, alright?"

"Who are you? How do you know so much?" Pete asked.

"You wouldn't believe it in a million years," came a hurried voice behind, Steve, before The Doctor could even answer the question, "A way out, Pete. Do you know one?"

"The side gates, our best bet," Pete replied and the group quickly ran away the direction Pete pointed. However, they were cut off by Cybermen blocking their way up ahead. The Doctor held his hands up but in the distance they could see two armed figures, which soon opened fire on them. The figures came into view, and soon were by their side.

"Oh my god, look at you," Rose said wrapping her arms around the one who looked a whole like Mickey, "I never thought I would see you again."

"It's Ricky to the rescue," The Doctor scoffed.

"No offense, but I don't know who the hell you two are," the Mickey look alike with his comrade with blonde spikey hair getting their guns ready to fire again. Soon another Mickey came into the mix.

"Yeah, Rose, that's the other me," the second Mickey said with a relieved smile when he saw them.

"Oh if things weren't bad enough. Two Mickeys," The Doctor said with a smile, though an incredulous look on his face seeing two Mickeys.

"It's Ricky," Ricky said with a huff.

"You're kidding," The Doctor said, before he continued on, knowing the severity of the situation, "I suggest you put your guns down. They won't work on them." Now there were Cybermen on all sides of them, tightening into a circle around them. The blonde one began shooting, at which The Doctor grabbed the man's gun out of his hand, dropping it on the ground. "It doesn't work, you idiot. No wonder you hang out with Ricky."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ricky and Mickey said at the same time.

"We surrender!" The Doctor called out holding his hands up.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked furiously, "We can't just surrender."

"We're surrounded. We have to surrender!" The Doctor insisted, "Just trust me." Rose put her arms into the air, and soon Pete followed, as did the others. "We surrender. We're good stock. No need to waste us. We volunteer. We volunteer to be upgraded."

"You are rogue elements. You are incompatible," the Cyberman who seemed to lead the group said.

"But we surrender!" The Doctor insisted.

"You will be deleted," the lead Cyberman informed the group.

"We've surrendered. We've surrendered!" The Doctor insisted, but the Cybermen seemed unfazed by their surrender.

“You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion," The lead informed them, holding out its hand, and the whole group began to chant together, "Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete."


	4. The Age of Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surrounded by Cybermen, the Doctor and crew must find a way to escape and stop the take over of the world.

"Delete. Delete. Delete. Delete." Went the chant of the metal men. In an instant The Doctor pulled out the device that had shown the sign of hope of getting out of this world from the TARDIS, and held it out in front of him. Out shone a golden light making the silver metal men fall back.

"Delete that," Rose said with a sense of pride in The Doctor as soon as she realized what had happened.

"Yes, but what was that?" Stevie interjected with a confused look.

"Something that just saved your lives," The Doctor took Rose's hand and looked at the group, "Run." The group began away from the house, just as a van pulled towards them as a woman driving shouted at them.

"Come on, get in," the woman ordered. Ricky, Jake, Mickey, and Stevie did as they were told, and The Doctor and Rose were just about to, but Pete Tyler, in his infinite wisdom, turned back towards the house and began towards it. The Doctor caught him, holding him by one arm back. Pete did not look happy.

"My wife's in there," Pete explained.

"Yes well, she's dead then. Or worse," The Doctor said with a grim look on his face.

"But…" Rose began before she trailed off.

"I can't just leave her, even if she is…," Pete insisted, stopping before he finished his sentence.

"If you want to help, then don't let her die for nothing. You've got to come. Now," The Doctor explained. Pete signed, then nodded quickly and jumped in the van after the others. Rose looked at The Doctor with that face he knew more than he wanted to.

"She's not you're mother, remember that. Alright?" The Doctor asked and Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I know," Rose replied as the two of them hurried into the van. The sat down and the woman looked back.

"Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life!" the woman said with a laugh as she stepped on the gas, passing the slow metal men, barely avoiding one's grasp. There was finally time to breathe, and the whole group did.

"What the hell was that thing?" Ricky, the Mickey look alike, asked with an accusatory tone.

"A glitter gun," The Doctor replied before he laughed, "No, really, it was just something from my home. Though, glitter guns to work on them, if you use real gold glitter, that is. Dunno if they would on this lot."

"You're serious?" Ricky asked.

"As serious as Torchwood is at capturing me," The Doctor noted, with a look towards Stevie.

"I knew it was you!" Stevie said.

"Yes, well, I'm not the one you actually met before," the Doctor replied with an amused look.

"Then who are you?" Pete asked.

"The Doctor," the Doctor replied.

"And I'm Rose," Rose interjected.

"Yes, she's my companion," the Doctor said with a small smile looking at Rose, before looking back at Stevie.

"Exactly," Stevie insisted, "Definitely you. Don't know her though." Stevie looked at Rose.

"She's got my dog's name," Pete pointed out.

"Alright!" Mickey interrupted indicating the little crystal thing that defeated the Cybermen, "More on the matter at hand, that thing. It's not glowing anymore… is it… dead?"

"Just on a revitalization loop," The Doctor answered, "It'll charge up in a few hours."

"So we don't have a weapon anymore," Ricky said shaking his head.

"We have plenty of weapons. Might not work on those… metal men, but they'd work on him," Jake said indicating Pete Tyler.

"Leave him alone. What's he done wrong?" Rose said rising to her parallel father's defense.

"Oh, you know," Jake began sarcastically, "Just laid a trap that's wiped out the government and left Lumic in charge. Nothing that deserves execution."

"Talk about executions, and you'll make me you enemy. Just ask those Cybermen back there what happens to my enemies," The Doctor replied coldly.

"All the same," Ricky said, "We have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since twenty point five." Rose looked at Pete with an incredulous look.

"Is that true?" Rose asked. Pete looked back at her, but said nothing.

"Tell them Mrs. M," Ricky said looking back at the woman driving the car.

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information. Lumic's private files, his South American operations, the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week," Mrs. M replied.

"Broadcast from Gemini?" Pete asked looking towards Ricky.

"And how do you know that?" Ricky asked back.

"It's me. I'm Gemini," Pete answered.

"Yeah, you would say that," Ricky said disbelievingly.

"Encrypted wavelength six five seven using binary nine. That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information," Pete replied as proof, but Stevie interjected.

"So you gave the information to Scooby Doo and his gang?" Stevie asked, "I thought you were smarter than that."

"I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services," Pete said in defense, "Transmissions were one way, and there was no way to know for sure."

"How'd you know it wasn't to Lumic?" Stevie asked.

"It was a risk I was willing to take," Pete said.

"You sent it to the best out there!" Mickey interjected, "Better than the Security Services. The Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted."

"Yeah…" Ricky began with a shy look on his face, "That's not exactly…"

"Exactly what?" Mickey asked looking at Ricky with a disappointed look.

"I'm London's Most Wanted… for parking tickets," Ricky admitted.

"Great," Pete said looking at Ricky with almost embarrassment that he had sent information to these people.

"Hey! They were deliberate!" Ricky said more confidence coming back, "I was fighting the system. Park anywhere, that's me."

"Good policy. I do much the same," The Doctor replied happily.

"Yeah, I know. Inside of buildings, in the middle of streets, inside of bathrooms where people were taking showers at the time and did not want a blue box waiting for them as you walk out in your birthday suit," Stevie replied with a look at The Doctor that spelt 'you've got to remember that one.'

"Seriously? I did that? To who?" The Doctor asked. Stevie looked defeated and sighed.

"So I've got a wanted… something, who can't seem to remember much, a catering girl and the Scooby Doo gang," Pete sighed.

"Hey, I have a lot to remember. You try living 900 years and remember everything," The Doctor said in defense.

"Hold on," Ricky interjected, "You're 900 years old."

"I am? Why would you think that?" The Doctor replied with a smile. The van fell silent for a little longer, before Rose spoke up again.

"I knew you weren't a traitor," Rose said looking at Pete.

"Why is that, then?" Pete asked with a pained expression, obviously thinking about his wife.

"I just did," Rose said.

"They took my wife," Pete stated.

"She might still be alive," Rose suggested trying to cheer him up, but it didn't work. In fact, he looked even worse.

"That's even worse. What Lumic does… he takes the living, and turns them into those machines," Pete explained, "What'd you call them, Doctor? Cybrusmen?"

"Cybermen. They're called Cybermen," The Doctor said with a serious and grim look, before he continued on, going past the whole Cybermen still around phase of his worry, "And I'd take off those ear pods, if I were you. Lumic could be listening." Pete nodded taking them off, and The Doctor snatched them up as soon as they were out of his ears, pulling his screwdriver and zapping them. "But he's overreached himself. He's just a businessman. He's killed the President. All we need to do is get to the city and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight."

They had arrived in London, and the whole team got out of the van and hurried out onto the main streets. However, every person was walking around, their earplugs blinking with blue lights.

"What the hell?" Jake asked walking up to one of the people.

"What's going on?" Rose asked doing the same, waving her hand in front of the person's face, who continued as if she weren't there.

"The ear pods. Lumic's taken control of them," The Doctor explained.

"Why don't we… you know, take them out then?" Rose asked reaching from one person's earplug.

"Don't! It's cause a brainstorm," The Doctor warned and Rose retreated her hand back and took her place beside him, "Human race. For such an intelligent lot, you are just a bunch of apes, aren't you? Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it." The Doctor was observing one of the people himself, not touching though, just in case.

"Hey, come and see," Jake's voice said coming from around a corner. The team looked around the corner seeing a squad of silver men leading a group of people.

"Where are they going?" Rose asked.

"Dunno. Lumic must have a base of operations," The Doctor said turning towards Pete, their spy on Lumic.

"Battersea. That's where he was building his prototypes," Pete supplied.

"Why? What's the point?" Rose asked.

"He's dying. This all started out as a way of prolonging life, of keeping the brain alive at any cost," Pete explained. Rose bit her lip, then turned towards The Doctor.

"Thing is, I've seen this. Right, Doctor? In Van Statten's collection. Those handle shapes…" Rose said looking at The Doctor with almost a scared look.

"There are Cybermen in our world. Started on an alien world. Spread across the galaxy. This lot are a parallel version, starting right here on Earth," The Doctor explained with a very grim look slathered all over his face.

"What the hell are you two on about?" Pete interrupted.

"Never mind that. We've got to get out of here," Ricky interrupted, "Jake, distract them. Mrs. Moore you look after that bloke. I'll go left, Jake, you go right. We'll meet at Bridge Street. Move." The Doctor looked at Ricky with a bit of surprise before nodding in approval.

"I'm going with him," Mickey said before kissing Rose's cheek (The Doctor crossed his arms at this) and ran off. The Doctor offered his hand to Rose and she took it.

"Come on," Moore ordered, guiding them down their way, but soon they ran into a legion of Cybermen. The group looked around, before The Doctor pointed down a side street.

"There," The Doctor ordered. Pete, Stevie, Mrs. Moore, The Doctor and Rose quickly ran down the street, before The Doctor turned and went behind some rubbish bins, the rest following his lead. The Cybermen were still coming. Closer and closer, right until they were next to the rubbish bins. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver activating it on the Cyberman. They responded by turning back and walking away.

"Go," The Doctor ordered the others, and the group left, besides Rose and The Doctor. He let go of Rose's hand. "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. Just want to make sure they don't turn around." Rose nodded and held back onto his hand.

"And I'll be right here with you," Rose replied. The Doctor looked at her with an almost stunned look, before he smiled and held onto her hand tighter.

"Alright then," The Doctor said. As soon as the coast was clear and the Cybermen were not turning around, the two hurried after their group. They met up on Bridge Street, where Jake was already.

"Thought we lost you two," Mrs. Moore commented, just as one of their friends rejoined them, running down the street at them. It was Mickey or Ricky. One of them. But which? And where was the other? From the look on the man's face it meant the other was dead.

"Here he is! Which one are you?" Jake asked.

"I'm sorry. The Cybermen. He couldn't…" the young man said.

"Mickey, that's you, isn't it?" Rose asked hopefully.

"Yeah," he replied. The Doctor released her hand and Rose ran towards Mickey and hugged him.

"He tried. He was running. There were too many of them," Mickey explained as Rose let go of him.

"Shut it," Jake said bitterly.

"There was nothing I could do," Mickey said taking a step towards Jake. Jake backed away from Mickey.

"I said shut it. Don't even talk about him. You're nothing, you are. Nothing," Jake replied turning away from Mickey.

"We can mourn him when London is safe. But now, we move on. Or billions others will die or be converted," The Doctor said standing next to Jake. Jake huffed and walked down the street.

"Then let's go," Jake said, and the group followed towards Battersea where everyone was heading.

"The whole of London's been sealed off, the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be converted," The Doctor explained seriously.

"We've got to get in there and shut it down," Rose said.

"How do we do that?" Mickey asked.

"Oh, I'll think of something… I hope," The Doctor replied cracking a smile before returning to his serious look.

"You're just making this up as you go along," Mickey pointed out.

"How long have you been travelling with me, Mickey? A couple months at least. When will you learn that I always do it? And I'm fantastic at it, don't you agree?" The Doctor replied with an amused look.

"Very fantastic," Rose replied with one of her smiles that just made The Doctor smile back. Soon Mrs. Moore came up to the group with a labtop.

"That's the schematic of the old factory. Look," Mrs. Moore said pointing at the screen showing it to The Doctor, "Cooling tunnels underneath the plant. Big enough to walk through."

"We go under there and up into the control center?" The Doctor asked with a smile at Mrs. Moore, "You are fantastic, Mrs. Moore."

"There's another way in," Pete interjected, "Through the front door." The Doctor looked at him curiously. "If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in." Jake shook his head.

"We can't just go strolling up," Jake pointed out.

"We could, actually," Mrs. Moore said fumbling through her pockets and pulling out some earplugs, "Fake earpods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, and the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."

"Then that's my job," Pete said with a definitive nod.

"You can't show any emotion. At all. If you do, you are given away and killed or converted. Can you do that?" The Doctor asked. Pete looked at him and bit his lower lip.

"How many of those you got?" Rose asked.

"Just two sets," Mrs. Moore replied.

"Okay then. I'm coming with you, then. I want to save Jackie," Rose said.

"Why does she matter to you?" Pete asked.

"Haven't the time," Rose replied turning towards The Doctor, "I'm going and that's that."

"Won't convince you otherwise?" The Doctor asked.

"No," Rose replied. The Doctor smiled widely.

"That's my Rose," The Doctor said with pride.

"What if we also take the earpods out too?" Stevie interjected, "Kill the signal. Give them their minds back, stop them from going in there willingly?" The Doctor nodded.

"Alright. Here's the plan then. Jake. Lumic's transmitting the control signal. It's somewhere over there," The Doctor began pointing his screwdriver towards the building, stopping on the zeppelin, "There it is. On the zeppelin, you see? Great big transmitter. Could you take it out?"

"Consider it done," Jake replied with a nod.

"Mrs. Moore, would you care to accompany me into the cooling tunnels?" The Doctor asked.

"How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?" Mrs. Moore replied with a smile.

"Steve. Stevie," The Doctor began.

"I'm coming with you," Stevie interrupted, "Not letting you get away again."

"I was going to send you with Jake, but I suppose that's alright," The Doctor replied, "Anyways, we attack all ends, below, in front, above. We control the center, we stop the conversions."

"What about me?" Mickey asked. The Doctor crossed his arms and looked at Mickey.

"You can st-" The Doctor began.

"Stay here, out of trouble? Be the tin dog? No, those days are over. I've saved your neck before, I can help now… I'm going with Jake," Mickey said. Jake did not like this idea.

"I don't need you, idiot," Jake spat.

"I'm not an idiot!" Mickey defended himself, "You got that? I'm offering to help."

"Whatever," Jake huffed, before he began walking towards his way of entry, Mickey following.

"Good luck, Mickey," The Doctor said.

"Yeah, you too. I'll see you later, both of you," Mickey said looking at Rose.

"Yeah, you'd better," Rose replied with a worried smile.

"If we survive this… the TARDIS, alright?" The Doctor asked.

"That's a promise," Mickey replied, turning back towards Jake and running after him. The Doctor turned towards Rose.

"You better come back too," The Doctor said seriously.

"I said I would, didn't I?" Rose replied.

"I just want to hear it from you to me, Rose," The Doctor said.

"Yeah… I promise. I'll see you back at the TARDIS."

The Doctor smiled slightly and slowly kissed her cheek, lingering on her cheek before pulling back. Was that a bit of blush on her cheeks he saw? Oh, fantastic. Bloody fantastic. He had embarrassed her. She hugged him and put the earplugs in, then turning towards Pete.

"Time to go," Rose said. Pete looked between her and The Doctor with almost a curious look, before he nodded and the two left, The Doctor watching her until they were out of sight.

"Well, it's our time to go. To the cooling tunnels!" The Doctor said with a very serious look at the two in his group.

________________________________________

"So, you seriously don't remember me?" Stevie asked as they climbed into the cooling tunnels.

"Nope," The Doctor replied, "I'm not The Doctor who you know."

"Of course you are. You look just like The Doctor we caught a few months back," Stevie responded crossing his arms and not going any farther forward.

"Any sign of a light switch?" The Doctor asked ignoring Stevie's comment.

"Can't see a thing," Mrs. Moore replied, "But I've got these. A device for every occasion."

"Fantastic," The Doctor said taking the torch on a headband, and putting it on his head.

"You can't ignore me forever, Doctor," Stevie said taking one of the headbands himself and putting it on.

"Now's not the time for explanations, Stevie," The Doctor said turning on the light, revealing rows of Cybermen on the side in front of them. Both Mrs. Moore and Stevie jumped a little seeing the metal men, but The Doctor seemed to keep a level head. "Already converted, just put on ice. Come on." The Doctor tapped on the metal head, before turning back towards the other two. "Slowly, in case there are trip systems." The three followed in a line down the tunnels. The three were silent, before Stevie spoke up.

"How'd you join with the Preachers, Mrs. M?" Stevie asked.

"Oh, I used to be ordinary. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then I found the Preachers. They needed a techie, so I, I just sat down and taught myself everything," Mrs. Moore replied with a small smile.

"What about… a… Mr. Moore?" Stevie asked.

"Are you asking?" Moore asked with a smile before she laughed, "He thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Got any family, or…?"

"Dunno," Stevie answered, "Torchwood took me in when I was a little boy. My parents were murdered. Don't remember them much. Grew up learning about this guy," Stevie indicated The Doctor, "Tried to capture him many times over, until he finally captured me."

"Not me," The Doctor interjected.

"Whatever, it was a man known as The Doctor from a planet called Gallifrey who travels in a blue box he calls the TARDIS. I think you fit that description," Stevie pointed out.

"Yes, that's me. But not the one you know," The Doctor said.

"Then who the hell are you?" Stevie demanded. The Doctor turned out quickly and placed a hand on Stevie's shoulder.

"I'm not here to be questioned, alright? Would you rather answers or this world saved?" The Doctor asked his voice in a very urgent whisper, "If you want answers, you can get them after we get out of here. You got that?" Stevie placed his right hand over his left, touching his wedding ring for just a moment.

"Alright. Fine," Stevie said moving his hands back to his sides, "After you."

"You two are really odd, all this talk about not being someone, but being them," Mrs. Moore commented.

"You should know, Mrs. Moore," The Doctor said with a knowing smile, "That's not your real name, is it?"

"No, it's not. Don't tell anyone, but… my real name's Angela Price," Mrs. Moore replied, before she stopped and pointed at a Cyberman, "Did that one just move?"

"Just the torchlight. Keep going," The Doctor said, but it wasn't long before another moved in front of them, "Run." He began running, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, the three ran quickly down the tunnels. The Doctor reached a latter and climbed it quickly, followed by Mrs. Moore, then Stevie (Stevie and pushed Mrs. Moore ahead of him so she wasn't in the back when running from something, as it was the most dangerous position to be). The Doctor reached the sealed top and ran his screwdriver along it, opening it. However, three people being pursued by a legion of Cybermen made their line just a little too long. Stevie looked down as he climbed the ladder seeing a Cyberman right behind him, just inches from grabbing his leg. There was no way he would get to the top before that metal man got him. Unless… He quickly pulled off his wedding ring, a dull, old gold ring, shoving it into the closest Cyberman's mouth, causing it to fall down the ladder, taking others with him.

The Doctor offered his hand to Stevie, pulling him up, then closing the lid to the cooling tunnels and sealing it with his screwdriver.

"My wife is going to kill me… it was her grandfather's ring," Stevie huffed, out of breath.

"How'd you know gold would hurt it?" The Doctor asked.

"You said in the van, gold in the glitter guns could hurt them," Stevie said breathing heavily, "So I thought it was either die by the hand of a Cyberman, or give it a go, and get murdered by my wife later."

“That was risky,” the Doctor noted, “Who knew if it would work in this world.”

"Good team, boys," Mrs. Moore interrupted standing behind the two men with a smile, "Come on, we have a world to save." The two men smiled, and The Doctor helped Stevie up, before the group began walking. "This way to the center," Mrs. Moore guided them. However, it was not long enough for Stevie to catch his breath as a Cyberman turned a corner and saw them.

"You are not upgraded," The Cyberman said. Mrs. Moore quickly pulled something out of her bag.

"Yeah? Well, upgrade this!" Mrs. Moore said chucking the device at the Cyberman, which stuck to the metal suit and sparked; the Cyberman fell to the ground.

"What the hell was that thing?" The Doctor asked with complete surprise.

"Electromagnetic bomb. Takes out computers, I figured it might stop the cyber-suit," Mrs. Moore replied walking up to the fallen metal man, The Doctor, and Stevie following. The Doctor knelled next to the suit and took off the logo on the front.

"You figured right. Now, let's have a look, shall we?" The Doctor suggested, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, picking up some white floppy stuff.

"Is that flesh?" Stevie asked with a raised eyebrow, before turning away.

"Nervous system. Artificial, but threaded throughout so it responds like a living thing," The Doctor explained, looking back a Stevie who seemed to have a problem with him poking around in the suit's chest. "Oh, but look. Emotional inhibitor. Stops them from feeling anything." He pointed to a small black square in the chest.

"Why?" Mrs. Moore asked.

"If you knew you were a metal man, what would you do?" The Doctor asked looking at Mrs. Moore.

"Go insane, I think," Mrs. Moore replied.

"Exactly," The Doctor confirmed nodding.

"Why am I cold?" The Cyberman said.

"Oh God, it's alive," Stevie said turning around.

"We broke the inhibitor," The Doctor said with his blank look of sorrow for someone else.

"Why so cold?" it asked again.

"Can you remember you name?" The Doctor asked.

"Sally. Sally Phelan," it answered.

"Sally?" Stevie asked.

"Where's Gareth?" Sally asked.

"Oh God," Stevie said knelling next to her, "Gareth's alright. Taking a night at the office, before the big day."

"Who's Gareth?" Moore asked.

"Stevie? Is that you? H-he can't see me. It's unlucky the night before," Sally said.

"Yeah, it's me. He's working tonight, alright? Nowhere near here. He won't see you, alright, Sally?" Stevie said.

"I'm cold. I'm so cold, Stevie. What's wrong with me?" Sally said through her mechanical mouth.

"It's alright. You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep," The Doctor said placing his screwdriver in her chest, "When you wake up, you'll be getting married." He activated the screwdriver and soon the whole machine shut done. He stood up.

"She… was getting married to a Torchwood agent. Gareth Wells. Nice young recruit," Stevie said slowly.

"That's fine, but right now we need to stop this. She didn't die in vain. She gave us the key," The Doctor replied.

"What key? To what?" Stevie asked.

"The emotional inhibitor, shut it off… find the cancellation code. They'd realize what they are," The Doctor explained.

"And what happens then?" Moore asked.

"It'll kill all of them. Make them go insane," The Doctor said.

"Can we do that?" Stevie asked.

"We've got to, before they kill everyone else," Moore replied, "It's got to be d-" Her sentence was cut off by the sound of electricity, which coursed through her body, and soon she dropped to the floor. Behind her was three Cybermen.

"No!" The Doctor yelled, "You didn't have to kill her!" The Doctor looked around, not seeing Stevie anywhere.

"Sensors detect a binary vascular system," A Cyberman said, "You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis. The other, find him and delete him." One of the other Cybermen saluted the one seemingly in charge and walked off while the other two grabbed The Doctor by his arms and led him away.

Once The Doctor was taken to the Cyber Control Center, he spotted Rose and Pete. A part of him was relieved, while the other was disappointed.

"I've been captured, but don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there. They can save me," The Doctor said sarcastically shaking his head as he was released by the two of them. Rose hugged the Doctor. "Are you okay?" The Doctor's gaze had softened.

"Yeah… but…" Rose began, but couldn't finish.

"They got Jackie. We were too late," Pete finished. The Doctor let go of Rose and turned towards their captors and crossed his arms.

"So where is this famous Lumic? Won't show his face?" The Doctor asked, "Won't face the people he's sending to death, sending to turn into stagnant metal men?"

"He has been upgraded," A Cyberman said.

"So he's one of you now? Which one?" The Doctor asked walking around a table in the middle closer to the Cybermen, but not too close in case of sudden movements.

"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller," The Cyberman replied pressing a button and letting a door open to reveal a new, different Cyberman.

"This is the age of steel and I am its creator," The new Cyberman, the Cyberleader, said.

"Oh, impressive," The Doctor said mockingly, "I always wanted to be a walking tin man."

"And you will be upgraded," The Cyberleader said, "To maximum Unity and Uniformity."

"And imagination? What about individuality? Joy? What about feeling the light breeze on the nice spring day and breathing in the fresh air?" The Doctor asked.

"What is your name?" The Cyberleader asked.

"I'm The Doctor," The Doctor said proudly.

"A redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken," The Cyberleader pointed out.

"Oh yeah? What about the sickness that you have right now?" The Doctor wondered, wandering around the room, around the table in the center, "Never progressing. Never going forward, becoming stronger, and becoming better. Once you get rid of sickness, mortality, then what is there to strive for? Why would you want to even progress after being converted? You just stop. No progress. Stagnation. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts, lacking the one thing that makes this planet so alive. People. Ordinary, stupid, fantastic people."

"You are proud of your emotions," The Cyberleader stated more as a statement than a question.

"Oh yes, very much so," The Doctor said with a nod.

"Tell me, Doctor. Have you known grief, and rage, and pain?" The Cyberleader asked.

"Yes," The Doctor answered.

"And they hurt?" The Cyberleader continued.

"Yes," The Doctor replied.

"I can free you from them," The Cyberleader suggested.

"I refuse. You know why?" The Doctor said taking a step closer to The Cyberleader, "I also know joy and gratitude and hope and most of all, love." He glanced back at Pete and Rose for just a split second. "And they are more valuable to me than anything else in the world, even if it means I must suffer for them. I'd rather die than give them up."

"What if I kill the girl then?" The Cyberleader asked. The Doctor's face drained and he looked back at Rose.

"You can try. But I'll stop you," The Doctor said moving back a little bit closer to Rose and Pete.

"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own," The Cyberleader said.

"You don't get it, do you? An army is nothing. That little bit of individuality that makes someone human, no matter how ordinary they are can change the world," The Doctor said untying his bowtie.

"But you are not ordinary," The Cyberleader pointed out.

"And I'm not human. I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about all those ordinary people out there, unconverted. Some ordinary man or woman, some… idiot. All it takes is for him to find… say…" The Doctor said glancing at a camera in the corner of the room, "The right numbers. Say the right codes. Say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of his face. Because even an idiot knows how to use computers these days. Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords. Knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under… What was it, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary Nine," Pete supplied.

"You are trapped. There is nothing you can do," The Cyberleader said.

"I never said anything about me, did I? Just ordinary people. You even said yourself, I'm not ordinary," The Doctor replied, "Any ordinary person would keep on typing, to save his friends. Even the most ordinary have more bravery than most would give them credit for. Because it's engrained in your little brains to survive, to keep those you made a connection with alive. That's what lead you to your Cybermen project, survival."

"Your words are irrelevant," The Cyberleader replied.

"Sorry about that. Tend to talk too much. That's my problem. Luckily, I got you that cheap tariff, Rose," he looked towards her with a glance up to the camera again, "For all our long chats… On your phone."

"You will be deleted," The Cyberleader said.

"Oh yes, all those fancy buttons. Control, Alt, Delete. But you know which one I prefer? Send!" The Doctor said with a wide smile on his face, "Let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place." A beeping sound came from Rose, and she pulled out her phone.

"By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else," The Doctor said positioning him near a docking device on the table.

"It's for you," Rose interrupted, throwing him the phone.

"Like this!" The Doctor placed the phone into the dock next to him. Suddenly, Cybermen began yelling out in pain. Nearby Cybermen clutched their heads, and one even had their head explode. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand.

"What have you done?" The Cyberleader yelled out.

"I've freed them. Gave them back their humanity. And it's killing them, what you did to them," The Doctor said, running out the room, Pete following and Rose holding his hand. They ran down the halls and soon saw a familiar face running towards them, Stevie.

"I was watching the whole time," Stevie shouted, "I was planning on saving you, but seems you saved yourself first."

"We need to get out of here. We can have a nice cozy chat later," The Doctor said, running right past Stevie.

"Good idea," Stevie said and turned to run with them. However, in front of them, a loud explosion sounded, and the roof collapsed.

"There's no way out!" The Doctor shouted. However, he looked at Rose who pulled out her phone, obviously feeling the vibration of a phone call, since the sound wasn't loud enough to be heard over the explosions.

"It's Mickey! He says to head for the roof," Rose shouted over the noise.

"Alright then. Let's go!" The Doctor turned back and towards a set of stairs, running up them quickly the group following, Rose still on the phone with Mickey. They were luckily not far from the roof, and reached the roof fairly quickly. There they saw the zeppelin flying close to the roof. The Doctor stopped under the zeppelin, as a rope ladder dropped.

"You've got to be kidding me," Pete said disbelievingly.

"Good job, Mickey," The Doctor said with a smile, having Rose climb first, then he grabbed on, then Stevie and then Pete. The zeppelin began rising from the exploding building, but it wasn't long before the balloon sank again, and the group looked down. There was the Cyberleader, formerly known as Lumic, climbing after them. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and held in to the side.

"Pete! Take this! Use it! Hold the button down! Press it against the rope. Just do it!" The Doctor said dropped the screwdriver. Luckily, he caught it, did as he was told, and the rope snapped underneath him. The Doctor sighed in relief.

________________________________________

It was later, by the TARDIS. The Doctor had gone in and placed the power cell into the TARDIS, but Stevie seemed to follow him in and was standing by him.

"So you really aren't my Doctor, I suppose," Stevie said, "It looked different in here the last time I was here."

"I don't understand, Stevie. You're Torchwood. And you said you were after me. Were we friends?" The Doctor asked, standing up and slowly heading towards the door.

"Of sorts. I snuck in your TARDIS when I was a boy, wanted to capture you. But you caught me, and showed me the universe. Then you left me," Stevie said, "Stayed with Torchwood to find you again. I wasn't happy for you just up and leaving me for some business on Gallifrey. Some sort of Time War. But I got over it. Then a year ago, we caught you. You recognized me then, but you had some missing memories."

"Probably from your past; time is wibbly wobbly," The Doctor suggest pushing open the door and the two of them walked out slowly. The Doctor leaned against the box.

"Dunno. He told me that the next time I see you to tell you 'When your worst enemies comes from the void, an old comrade follows.' You wouldn't tell me what it meant. Next I knew, you… or he was gone," Stevie explained. The Doctor looked at him curiously. "What does it mean?"

"No idea," The Doctor said, then turned towards Rose who was talking with Pete, "Rose? I've only got five minutes of power. We've got to go." Rose looked back and nodded, and soon Pete left. The Doctor walked up to Rose, and Mickey appeared before them with a bundle of clothes.

"My jacket!" The Doctor said excitedly, "Now I can change out of this thing."

"Actually, the tux suits you," Rose said straightening the collar.

"Now then, Jake, we've got to run. But one more thing. Mrs. Moore. Her real name was Angela Price. She's got a husband out there, and children. Find them. Tell them how she died saving the world," The Doctor said turning towards Jake who was near Mickey.

"Yeah, 'course I will," Jake replied with a smile.

"Time to go then," The Doctor said looking at Rose then at Mickey.

"Er… thing is… I'm staying," Mickey said nervously.

"You're doing what?" The Doctor asked seriously.

"You can't," Rose said taking a step closer to Mickey.

"It balances out, sort of. This world lost Ricky. But there's me. This world needs me, with all those Cybermen still out there," Mickey explained.

"You can't stay," Rose said almost pleading.

"My gran's here. She's still alive. My old gran, remember her?" Mickey replied, adding, "She needs me."

"What about me? What if I need you?" Rose asked.

"You don't," Mickey answered, taking Rose's hand and The Doctor's hand and putting them on top of each other, "You've got him. It's just you and him. We had something a long time ago, but not anymore."

"Well, we can always come back, visit you," Rose suggested. The Doctor squeezed her hand a little and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Rose. We fell through a crack, one I have to fix once we go back. We can never come back here, Rose," The Doctor explained.

"Doctor," Mickey said offering his hand, which The Doctor took.

"Take Rose's phone. It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories," The Doctor said letting go of Mickey's hand and letting go of Rose's, "And good luck, Mickey the idiot."

"Watch it," Mickey said seriously, before smiling playfully. The Doctor began walking towards the TARDIS, giving Rose and Mickey some alone time. He saw Stevie still waiting by the TARDIS.

"What? You want to come along?" The Doctor asked.

"No," Stevie replied, "Just wanted to see you off." The Doctor nodded.

"It was a pleasure working with you, Mr. Steve from Torchwood," The Doctor said with a smile.

"The pleasure's all mine," Stevie replied.

"I hope your Doctor returns," The Doctor said, "I truly do."

"Even if he doesn't, I'll be fine. Now whether my wife will forgive me for losing my ring…" Stevie replied with a laugh, "She'll probably still be in Beijing, business trip, away from all of this, luckily. You were the one who suggested her to go anyways when we captured you."

"I did? How considerate of me. She'll be just happy you're alive," The Doctor said.

"Good-bye," Stevie said.

"Bye," The Doctor replied and entered the TARDIS, taking off his tux blazer, and putting on his leather jacket. He walked over to the console and began punching in some coordinates. Rose soon came in. The Doctor looked over and pulled down a lever engaging the engine. He walked over to her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor said. Rose remained silent and simply held onto The Doctor. The engine was going, and then it stopped, it seemed very quickly, when in reality it had been several minutes. The Doctor let go of Rose, and walked over to the door and opened it. Outside was the living room of her mother's home. Rose quickly rushed out.

"Mum?" She called and Jackie came strolling out not knowing what had happened. Rose hurriedly hugged her tightly.

"What's wrong?" Jackie asked as Rose sobbed on her shoulder, "What's happened, sweetheart? What's wrong? Where did you go?" Seeing as no answers were coming from Rose, Jackie looked at The Doctor behind Rose.

"Far away," The Doctor answered, "That was… far, far away."

"Where's Mickey?" Jackie asked.

"Home," The Doctor answered, "He's gone home."


	5. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After both coming out safe from a television who ate people's faces, the Doctor and Rose return home, only to find out it is Christmas Eve. Convinced to stay for Christmas, the Doctor and Rose prepare for the holiday.

“I thought I had lost you,” the Doctor said, as Rose ran into his arms.

“Discovered the culprit before you,” Rose teased with a tongue touched smile. 

“You were fantastic, you were,” the Doctor replied, “I was a bit worried there, for a moment. When I saw you without your face that I… had lost you.”

“Never,” Rose assured, placing a lingering kiss on the Doctor’s cheek.

“Yeah,” the Doctor said mesmerized. He bit his lip, his smile disappearing. Had she stepped over the line? This was a more… not heat of the moment sort of thing, and he wasn’t talking. Sure, they had kissed before, but it didn’t mean anything, right? Just a friendly good-bye kiss, an ‘I won’t see you for a long time’ sort of deal. 

At least that was what she told herself. It could never be more than that, no matter how much she loved the man, because, like he had told her before, he could never spend his life with her, even if she could spend her life with him. It was why he was so distant at times, other than being an alien (something she would forget sometimes, but then he’d do something so… alien and remind her). So that he didn’t get his hearts broken more than necessary. 

But, if he would let her in, she wouldn’t hesitate to seize the chance and worm her way into his hearts. Only if he would allow it. Because she respected the fact he might not want anything more than they had, whether because he was too alien to have such a relationship, or because it would hurt him too much when she would inevitably die due to her mortality. 

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked tilting her head to the side slightly. The Doctor shook his head, releasing the embrace and embracing the TARDIS console instead. 

“Nothing,” the Doctor answered grinning again, “Where do you want to go next?” Rose bit her lower lip, returning the expression he had just moments ago. 

“Home,” Rose requested. 

“Home?” the Doctor questioned. 

“Yeah, I want to see Mum,” Rose explained, “It’s been a long day, and… I miss her.” The Doctor pulled a lever and stood up completely straight, straightening his leather jacket. 

“Home it is,” the Doctor decided, and began working his way around the console. 

“Maybe you’ll get some of that domestics you were looking forward to,” Rose teased. The Doctor raised an amused eyebrow. 

“We’ll see,” he replied as he hit the console with his mallet, pulling a lever and landing the machine quickly. “We’re here.” He indicated the door. Rose quickly pulled a jacket off the railing and ran to the door, looking back for a moment and then running out. Jackie was waiting outside the door and embraced the young Tyler immediately. 

“Fun?” Jackie asked. 

“Oh yes,” Rose replied as the Doctor leaned against the TARDIS door, arms crossed, watching the mother and daughter. They released the hug and Rose went bounding around the apartment. 

“You’ve rearranged,” Rose noted. 

“Yeah, I didn’t like how the sofa was,” Jackie answered in that airy, almost dreamy voice she tended to get. 

“When is it?” Rose asked looking back at her mother. 

“It’s Christmas Eve,” Jackie answered, looking slightly hopeful, “Maybe you could stay until the holidays are over?” Rose looked back at the still leaning Doctor for permission. Those eyes, that smile, the way her nose slightly crinkled and her head tilted slightly to the side. He couldn’t say no to that. Even if it was… domestic. 

“Alright,” the Doctor sighed, unfolding his arms and walking all the way in. 

“Where would he sleep?” Jackie asked. 

“He doesn’t sleep that much,” Rose quickly answered, “But he’d probably just go into the TARDIS.” 

“Right,” Jackie said turning towards the Doctor, “About that. Could you park the… the, Terdas outside, maybe? It’s a bit crowded in here already.” The Doctor looked at the TARDIS and put his hand on the blue wood exterior, almost petting it. 

“’Suppose you’re right,” the Doctor conceded, “I’ll be back.” He walked into the box and the engines whined. 

“Hopefully he gets here within the next week,” Rose sighed, having made a move to follow him, but he had already left before she got pretty much anywhere. Suddenly, the Doctor burst through the door, breathing heavily. 

“What happened?” Rose asked. 

“Kids. A hoard,” The Doctor said between breaths, slamming the door shut behind him. “Singing. They followed me. There’s probably something wrong with them. Like they caught the Earlian Flu, forces you to sing all the time or you die.” Rose smirked and held back a laugh while Jackie looked at him with a look of disbelief. “What?” 

“They could, you know,” Rose began a few chuckles slipping through, “Just be carolers.” 

“Carolers?” the Doctor asked. 

“People go door to door and sing to each other,” Jackie answered, “They probably saw you, wanted to sing to you, and scared you off. That hoard of kids, is probably confused as to why you ran.”

“They must have been heartbroken you didn’t want to hear them,” Rose added. The Doctor took a deep breath in, catching his breath and standing up straight. 

“Right, I knew that,” the Doctor said. Rose crossed her arms and gave him a ‘rrrrriiight’. “I did.” Rose laughed, running up to him, grabbing his hand and opening the door again. 

“C’mon. If we’re staying for Christmas, we’ve got to buy presents,” Rose said pulling him out. 

“Right, presents. Do I have to get something for your mum?” the Doctor asked. 

“Oi!” Jackie called, “How will you have the money?” 

“Don’t worry Mum, his sonic screwdriver can get us what we need,” Rose assured her, “We’ll be home before dinner!” 

“It’ll be ready at 6 sharp!” Jackie shouted as the door closed. 

Rose dragged the Doctor from shop to shop, looking for presents for Jackie most specifically, though the two split up for a time in order to get something for each other. The Doctor used his sonic on some of the ATMS in order to get the money they needed, though no more than they needed. 

Rose hooked herself onto the Doctor’s arm, smiling like there was nothing happier in the universe, and the Doctor smiling in kind. Somehow, Rose had managed to convince him to try on one of the Christmas sweaters, which she thought he looked adorable in, even if he complained. In the end, they bought the sweater (“I won’t wear it,” the Doctor insisted, “But fine, if you want to get it, get it.”). 

Turned out they were nearly half an hour late, but Jackie was just finishing up dinner (she hadn’t planned to make enough for three tonight). Rose nearly had to drag the Doctor to the dinner table, but in the end he gave in. The two sat across from Jackie, and ate their spaghetti. It was actually a bit awkward. Jackie would ask about their adventures, and sometimes they would get so caught up in telling the story they would forget about Jackie and basically just tell the story to each other. At the end of the story the two would exchange a look and then look back at Jackie who was just sitting there smiling, sometimes with a strand of spaghetti noodle sticking out her mouth that she would quickly scoop up to her mouth with her fork. 

After dinner, the Doctor retreated to the TARDIS in order to escape a bit too much domestics, and take a “cat nap” as he called it. Rose and Jackie retreated to the living room where they watched the news. Rose was curled up in an armchair, a blanket wrapped around her so she was cocooned. Jackie was drinking a glass of tea. The news broke to commercial. 

“You and him, I don’t like it, but if you’re happy, I’m happy,” Jackie said still watching the TV. Rose jerked her head towards Jackie and looked at her with a confused look. 

“What do you mean?” Rose asked. 

“I mean, you’re not just friends,” Jackie replied looking over at the confused Rose, “I see the way you two look at each other. It’s like you’re already married.” 

“It’s not… like that,” Rose replied shaking her head. 

“Of course it is, I can see it, Rose. I’m not stupid,” Jackie insisted, “I always knew you liked him, but you two, you’ve changed. The way you look at each other. Pete used to look at me like he looks at you.” 

“He’s not like that,” Rose assured her, “He’s not human. He can’t look at me that way. I would’ve noticed.” Jackie laughed and Rose raised an eyebrow. 

“I thought that about Pete too, and then he asked me out,” Jackie replied shaking her head. 

“Why do you care anyways? I thought you hated him,” Rose asked a bit bitterly, trying to get the conversation off of the subject of her and him. Of course she fancied him. A bit more than fancied him, but it didn’t help if her own mum was trying to set the two of them up. It’d make it harder when he would reject her. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship. She’d rather grow old and never have a romantic relationship with him than have him reject her and live without him for the rest of her life. 

“I never hated him,” Jackie answered, “I didn’t like he was putting you in trouble. That he allowed you to put yourself in danger. But, I can’t stop you. ‘Suppose I disliked him for taking you away from me, too. But he makes you happy, and anyone who can do that, I can accept.” Rose stared at her as the news came back on again. The Doctor opened the front door and walked into the living room. 

“Can I see you for a moment alone, Jackie?” the Doctor asked, “In private?” Rose raised another eyebrow. 

“Wh- yeah, of course,” Jackie answered, sending a look of utter surprise to Rose. Jackie got up from the seat, setting her tea on the table and walking down the short hallway and entering her room, the Doctor following. 

Had pigs been discovered to fly? Or did hell freeze over? First her mum and now the Doctor. She smiled and looked back at the television. Maybe it was just the Christmas spirit. Maybe he was just asking Christmas advice so he didn’t run from something as harmless as carolers again. 

It was about five minutes later that the two finally emerged. Jackie looked positively cheerful and the Doctor was grinning from ear to ear. What were they up to? 

“I’ll be off,” the Doctor quickly said. 

“But you just got here,” Rose complained. 

“The TARDIS won’t fix herself,” the Doctor answered with a small shrug, “And anyways, you need to get your sleep.” Rose frowned and sighed. 

“Fine,” Rose said unwrapping herself from her cocoon of blankets, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She wrapped her arms around the Doctor who squeezed her tightly. 

“‘Night Rose,” the Doctor said, lowering his voice, his arms still around her, “Sweet dreams.” Something about the way he said it sent shivers down her spine. 

“Thanks,” Rose said releasing the hug, planting a short kiss on his cheek and prancing off to her room, a blanket around her shoulders like a cape. The Doctor watched her for a few moments. Rose turned around when she reached her room, catching him staring. She sent him a tongue touched smile and closed the door. 

“Just keep her safe, alright?” Jackie said breaking the trance that the Doctor was in. He looked at her, taking a moment to compute what she had said. 

“I will try my best,” the Doctor assured her. 

“If things get too bad, you’ll send her away again, won’t you?” Jackie requested looking up at the taller man picking up her cup of tea. 

“Yes,” the Doctor replied simply and concisely. Jackie wrapped her arms around him, tea still in hand. She didn’t say anything. Weird. That’s usually the opposite of what she would do. Yelling at him, slapping him, insisting he keep her safe. The Doctor smile softly and hugged her back. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe. I promise.” 

“Thank you,” Jackie said, wiping her eyes as she released the hug. The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement and made his way out of the apartment. He didn’t know whether Jackie was going to stay up and watch the news completely or just go to bed. Didn’t matter really. The Doctor walked down the stairs and turned left, pulling out his key, and entering the nearby blue box. 

“Set an alarm for 8 am London, England, Earth; December 25th, 2007.” He took off his leather jacket and hung it on one of the rails. He walked up to the console and leaned against it for a moment. “You know girl, I don’t understand humans.” He laughed and pushed himself away from the console and began circling it. “There can be the most evil of creatures in a person, and then, the most beautiful and amazing creature in another.” He sighed, looking at the hallway that led to the rest of the ship. “Maybe I should get some sleep tonight. Getting close to that time.” He leaned again the console for a few moments longer before shaking his head and making his way down the hallway. 

First door on the right, his room. It was rarely used, as Timelords needed less sleep than humans, but he did use it every week or so. And then, approximately once every five years he had to take a long 23 hour hibernation in order for his body to function properly. It was during that time that he slept that his imagination would run wild and he would dream amazing things. 

Thing was, he tended to talk when he was sleeping. And if Rose were around… Knowing himself, he wouldn’t want her to hear what he might say while he was asleep. She was human. He was Timelord. The two didn’t mix. They couldn’t mix. He’d outlive her by so much, and his heart would be broken again. However, a year ago he cared a lot more about that than he did now. Over the short time he had let his guard down. She’d gotten into his hearts so firmly that no matter what happened he would be heartbroken when she left, either by old age or something else. And he didn’t know how he would deal with it. 

He thought he learned his lesson with Susan, Ian and Barbara. Steven didn’t stay too long, Vicki, Dodo, Polly, Ben… Jamie stayed for a while, but then he forgot everything. Sarah Jane he cut things short with her because of this exactly. Humans weren’t allowed on Gallifrey, no, but he would’ve made her the exception, like he had Leela. Afraid of getting too attached. Better cut it short than lose her for good. Like Adric. 

Oh, Rassilon. He really needed to stop reflecting. It was only going to hurt him. He could feel this hearts breaking just at the mention of Adric in his thoughts. He fell onto his bed face first. Just go to sleep, and everything will be fine. Maybe he would work up a plan while he was asleep as to how he would deal with Rose in the end as he had dealt with Sarah Jane. But he didn’t want to even think about that. He’d pushed it off too long.


	6. Christmas Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas day arrives and the two exchange presents and pleasantries.

The next morning, Rose awoke with a long stretch, looking at her clock next to her bed, reading 10:00 PM. She’d slept in on Christmas Day. Quickly jolting up from her bed, she threw on some cozy Christmas clothes, and walked out into the living room. No one was there. 

“I suppose Earth chocolate will have to do,” the Doctor almost complained, his voice coming from the kitchen. Rose curiously crept towards the kitchen and pushed open the door. The Doctor was holding a bowl and stirring with a wooden spoon. Jackie was leaning against a counter crossing her arms, glaring at the Doctor. Upon spotting Rose, Jackie straightened up and unfolded her arms. 

“Getting along, are we?” Rose asked with a smile, seeing the tension between the two of them. At least she wasn’t going crazy. 

“He’s trying to show me how to do my job,” Jackie replied slightly bitterly, walking over to her, “My chocolate cake recipe has been passed down for centuries and here he comes waltzing in saying that his cake would be much better than mine. Can you believe that?” Rose laughed and the Doctor shot her a curious look. 

“I’m sure his cake will be fine,” Rose said patting her mum’s shoulder and taking a step into the cramp kitchen, “Need any help?” 

“Yes, actually. Do you have any alpine frucidaily juice?” the Doctor asked looking between the two blondes, grinning from ear to ear. Rose raised an eyebrow. 

“We’re on Earth, remember?” Rose asked. 

“Of course!” the Doctor answered, narrowing his eyes slightly, “Alpine frucidaily juice comes from the mountainous regions of Tibet. Although it isn’t really discovered until 2065…” The Doctor passed the bowl to Rose and quickly walked from the room. “I’ll be back!” Rose laughed and poked her head out of the room. 

“Don’t forget the singing kids aren’t dangerous!” Rose shouted back. She shook her head and set the bowl on the counter. Jackie looked at Rose with a look of disbelief before breaking into laughter. 

“He’s an odd on, you’ve got,” Jackie commented, “Happy Christmas.” The Doctor came walking right back through the door. “That was quick.” 

“Turns out the TARDIS doesn’t want to leave,” the Doctor explained, “I’m already here, somewhere else in London.” 

“Another you?” Rose asked. 

“Yes. She won’t take off until that me leaves,” the Doctor said taking off his jacket and picking up the bowl again, beginning to stir it, “But don’t worry about that. We’ll face that when we get to it, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Rose answered shaking her head stiffly, looking worried. 

“I’ll just use vanilla extract, instead,” the Doctor said looking at Jackie, “You do have that, don’t you?” 

“Of course I bloody do,” Jackie answered a bit frustrated, going through the cabinets and finding a small bottle and handing it to him. 

“Mum, it’s alright if we go one year without the Prentice family cake,” Rose said rolling her eyes. The Doctor took the extract and poured a bit in, mixing it with the chocolate batter. He took the wooden spoon from the bowl and tasted a bit of the batter. 

“Oh yes, this will be good,” the Doctor said, offering Rose the spoon, “Try it.” Rose accepted and took a small taste of the batter. It was nice and chocolate-y with the distinct taste of batter. 

“Mmmm, that’s good,” Rose replied, with a smile. She noticed a bit of the batter sticking on his cheek, so instinctively, she reached up, and wiped it off of his face. The two exchanged a look which was interrupted by Jackie coughing. And it wasn’t even a real cough either. Rose quickly wiped her finger off with a towel and the Doctor began pouring the batter into a pan. 

“That’s everything then,” Rose said with a sigh, leaning against the counter, “Right?” 

“Yes,” Jackie huffed eying the Doctor with disdain as he put the pan into the open.

“Presents?” The Doctor asked curiously. Rose raised an eyebrow and laughed. 

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Rose replied, “But first. Your sweater.” The Doctor’s eyes darkened. 

“I told you I’m not wearing it,” the Doctor said quickly crossing his arms. 

The three were in the living room, Jackie was sitting in the armchair while Rose and the Doctor sat on the sofa. Needless to say he was wearing the sweater that Rose had bought for him yesterday. The three looked at each other, awkwardly, waiting for someone to start. Taking a breath in, Rose decided to start. 

“Mum,” Rose said handing over wrapped box. Jackie smiled and shook it by her ear. 

“Oh, Rose, you didn’t have to,” Jackie replied smiling, slowly breaking the tape so she could reuse the paper. Inside there was a white box, which Jackie opened up; then pulled out a very pretty, strapless, pink dress. 

“I saw it when we were shopping,” Rose said, “Thought of you.” Jackie got up from her seat and gave Rose a quick hug. 

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Jackie replied, taking her seat again, stroking the soft silky material. The Doctor took a deep breath in and quickly handed a small package to Jackie. She looked at the box and then back at Rose. Slowly she opened it, carefully just as she had with Rose’s present, revealing a cell phone. She looked at the Doctor confused. “Hold on, this is my cell phone. I was wondering where it was last night.” 

“Thing is,” the Doctor said taking the phone out of her hand, and opening up the back revealing the battery, “I did some jiggery-pokery, like I did with Rose’s. Now you can call her whenever you want.” Jackie took the phone back, and looked at it, her eyes lighting up. There was a split second that Rose almost looked unhappy about it, but Jackie didn’t catch. 

“Now I don’t have to wait around…” Jackie said as a grin grew on her face. She hopped up and hugged the Doctor tightly. The Doctor grimaced as he was squished up to her, but smiled upon seeing Rose grinning at him. Finally, Rose pulled her mother off of the poor Christmas sweater-wearing Doctor. 

“Present for you,” Rose said handing a poorly wrapped package to the Doctor when Jackie finally settled back down. The Doctor ripped into the wrapping paper, not showing the delicate artistry that Jackie had, revealing a box. 

“Oh this is a pretty box, thank you,” the Doctor said with a grin. 

“It’s what’s in the box that counts,” Rose replied with a laugh. The Doctor opened the box, and pulled out a banana alarm clock. The Doctor laughed. “So you wake up on time.” Rose was teasing of course. 

“A banana?” Jackie asked slightly confused. 

“Bananas are good,” the Doctor answered with a serious look before a grin burst forth again. “Hold on.” The Doctor spotted something at the bottom of the box and pulled out a medium flat grey stone on the end of a necklace. He put it in his hand and looked at the stone closely, staring at the stone. 

“I made that a while ago, just couldn’t find the right time to give it to you,” Rose said, “I think it’s your name in–”

“Gallifreyan,” the Doctor replied, running his hand over the surface, flipping it over to reveal another circular inscription, “And Gallifrey.” He looked up at her with a studying look. 

“I read some books,” Rose explained, “I wanted to give you something that would remind you of where you come from.” The Doctor frowned. “Who you are, you know? You’re not human, but sometimes I think you want to be one of us stupid apes.” 

“You’re not that stupid,” the Doctor noted. Rose laughed and put an arm around his shoulders. 

“You’re you, and nothing is going to change that,” Rose finished. She took the necklace from his hand, and placed over his head so the stone rested right around mid-chest. The Doctor stared at her, unsure of how to reply. He had destroyed those people, that planet. He did not deserve to call himself one of them. He was the last of his kind and remembering meant feeling that pain. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel touched. Touched that she wanted to make sure to remind him of what he was, and learned circular Gallifreyan for at least those two words. 

It took all the strength he had not to swoop down and kiss her sweet lips. They were so close, and he could smell her hair. 

“For you,” the Doctor said, snapping out of the daze quickly, giving Rose a not wrapped box. Rose smiled and took it, opening the box. Inside there was a picture frame, holding a picture of Jackie, Pete, and a little baby girl. It was a simple frame that one could set on a nightstand, a completely plain silver frame. “You don’t seem to have many pictures on the TARDIS, so I thought I would give you one. There’s also a locket in there.” He quickly took the box and pulled out the locket. It was small and silver to match the frame. He opened it and showed it to her, revealing a picture of Jackie and Pete on one side and a picture of him and Rose on the other. “I couldn’t find a good recent picture of you alone, so…” 

He was cut off by an abrupt move. It took a second to compute that Rose had just pressed her lips against his, and once he did, he wasn’t sure how to respond. She began to pull back, and in a split second decision, he pulled her closer with one hand. 

Something felt off about the whole thing, and the instant that the two realized it was because Jackie was in the room awkwardly looking off at the wall, they split apart. Rose wiped her mouth and leaned against the arm of the sofa. 

“Right!” Jackie said loudly to cut out the awkward silence that was bound to occur, “My presents for you two. Didn’t have much time, but here you go.” She handed Rose a neatly wrapped package and the Doctor a large Santa decorated tin. 

Rose unwrapped her gift first, revealing a purple-blueish leather jacket that made her eyes light up instantly. Then, it was the Doctor’s turn, and he revealed a tin full of cookies and a couple of small loafs of bread (revealed by Jackie to be a loaf cranberry bread and a loaf of banana bread). 

Christmas Dinner was soon served a little bit after noon. Jackie said a prayer (the Doctor protested, but Rose convinced him to join hands and close his eyes during the prayer) and the feast commenced. Underneath the table, the Doctor and Rose held hands, squeezing a bit at odd intervals as if to make sure the other hand was still there. Rose wore her locket and the Doctor his Gallifreyan stone necklace.   
The two were better about letting Jackie in most of the conversation. However, when the Doctor and Jackie began arguing, Rose had to intervene and put an end to the argument. 

Jackie actually admitted that she liked the Doctor’s cake but said it wasn’t as good as the ol’ Prentice recipe. The Doctor argued it was because he didn’t have all of the ingredients that he needed. Rose said it was really good and commended the Doctor and his cooking skills. Jackie and the Doctor bonded over making fun of Rose’s cooking skills (‘she nearly blew up the kitchen trying to cook eggs once’ the Doctor had said). 

They cracked their Christmas poppers and wore crowns (the Doctor was again reticent to wear the paper crown, but Rose managed to convince him to put it on). Eventually, they made it into the living room and continued to talk for a while, before turning on the television. The Doctor had gotten up to quickly ‘run and get something’ from the TARDIS. Rose followed him close behind. As soon as the door had closed behind them, Rose took the Doctor’s arm to hold him back slightly. 

“What?” the Doctor asked. 

“You’re just trying to get away from Mum,” Rose replied. The Doctor frowned and tensed up slightly. “It’s just a few more hours. It can’t be that bad, right?” The Doctor still didn’t say anything, and simply stared at her with the frown. “Please. For me?” 

The Doctor sighed, and nodded. “Fine. But I do need to get something from the TARDIS. I won’t be long.” Rose smiled, kissing his cheek. 

“Better not,” Rose said pointing at him, opening the door to the flat and watching him as she entered. The Doctor put a hand on his cheek where she had kissed him, before quickly turning around and walking to the TARDIS. 

Thing was, he liked the kisses on the cheek and at this time, they meant more to him than those on the lips. It showed that she cared, not in the heat of the moment. That even when things were completely normal, she still liked him. Even if it didn’t mean anything to her, that is was just a reflex for her, it meant a lot to him. 

Surely enough, he was back after about five minutes. “I can’t believe some people have to work on Christmas,” Jackie said as they watched some sort of cheesy Christmas flick. It was all so… domestic. 

The Doctor took a seat next to Rose on the couch, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Rose smiled, snuggling into his chest. When Rose practically fell asleep on him, he decided that he liked this domestic… a little bit at least. One of his hands had dropped down to her back, and he slowly pet her soft blonde locks. When a news report flashes on, the Doctor quickly sonics the television changing it back to the movie. Jackie didn’t notice the sonicing, but did notice the flash of a news report, thinking not much of it. They needn’t know what he was already out there fighting. That’s what he wanted to see his TARDIS for was to check the status of what was happening. In fact, he didn’t want to know what was happening himself. He knew he would find out in the future and didn’t want to cement anything in stone. 

Eventually, Jackie excused herself, and went to bed. The Doctor stayed on the couch, with a sleeping Rose on his chest. He didn’t actually mind it, really. She was beautiful when she slept. She was beautiful all the time, but especially when she was sleeping. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and watched what had to be the cheesy Christmas movie channel all night.


	7. Old Bad Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor ends up killing a man, and Rose is pissed. Rose decides to give the Doctor a taste of his own medicine.

Rose slammed open the TARDIS door and stamped into the console room, seeing a stoic Doctor in front of her.

“What the bloody hell is wrong with you?” Rose nearly shouted getting up in his face.

“What?” the Doctor spat back pushing by her. She grabbed his arm and he turned around to face her a stone cold face greeting her angry one.

“You killed a man!” Rose shouted.

“I did what I had to do,” the Doctor answered gritting his teeth together.

“And with that, you’ve lost your right to speak to me,” Rose growled, “Just listen. I thought you had changed. Coward any day, right?” The Doctor’s expression changed for a microsecond to shock before returning to the expressionless look he was giving her. Rose paused for a moment wondering where she had heard him say that. For some reason he could hear him saying that to the emperor Dalek, but she wasn’t there for that, at least that she could remember.

“You killed that man. I don’t care if he had a chance to get out of prison and kill billions of people, he deserved the chance to change. A chance to just live,” Rose continued holding his arms firmly in hers, effectively talking right to his face. “I thought I knew you. I thought you changed. I-I thought…” Rose looked away, letting go of him. He didn’t move, nor did his expression change. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Without looking at him, she ran away into the recesses of the TARDIS. The Doctor took a deep breath in and looked at the ground clenching his fists momentarily. Slowly he worked his way around the console to park it in the vortex and began repairs on the ship.

Several days later, Rose was eating breakfast in the kitchen. A blueberry muffin and a side of bacon. She liked bacon. Bacon was good. She hadn’t seen the Doctor in a few days, ever since the whole ‘he killed someone’ ordeal that she was still not quite over. Rose had a feeling that either he or the TARDIS was making it so they didn’t meet up.

The Doctor walked in. Well, so much for that theory. Upon seeing Rose sitting there, who willed herself not to react, he suddenly looked a lot like a deer in headlights. Slowly, he began backing up as if to sneak out without her noticing.

“I know you’re there,” Rose said looking at her muffin quite intently.

“I was just going,” the Doctor replied quickly turning around and attempting to walk out of the room. A hand grabbed his arm and held him back. He looked back seeing Rose holding his arm (she must have moved quickly to get from the table to him so quickly).

“Would you like a muffin?” Rose offered indicating a pile of muffins on a tray on a nearby counter. The Doctor frown and shook his head. “You should eat. C’mon.” She pulled him (he offered no resistance) to a chair and sat him down. She got a plate and put a muffin and a couple strips of bacon on the plate and set it on the table. Then she sat back in her seat, looking distractedly at the wall behind the Doctor while he took up her thing of staring at his muffin intently.

Eventually he picked up the muffin and took a bite and Rose followed in suit. They ate in silence. Occasionally the Doctor would look up at Rose and stare for a short time, thinking about how mad she was at him and how he did regret killing the man. She didn’t understand that he did what he had to do to protect the people of that world from a man like that. He had gone through every possible scenario and it was the only way. He wouldn’t do it any different. But he wished she could understand. Understand the burden he carried to do what he did. Then again, sometimes he wished she never did and just was happy again without worrying about him ever. Maybe… maybe he should just drop her off back at home and she wouldn’t ever have to worry about him ever again. He was getting awfully close. Cut the tie before it gets too close and hurts him even more than it would now.

“Rose,” the Doctor finally said once he finished his bacon and muffin, sitting back to see her finishing off her last strip of bacon. She looked up at him and bit her lower lip, licking a bit of the grease from her lip. The words were caught in his throat. “I’m going to be fixing the TARDIS.”

He couldn’t do it. Hmph. More like coward every day.

“Alright,” Rose replied standing up and getting some more bacon, “Will we be landing anytime soon?” The Doctor shook his head.

“There’s a glitch in the plasma flow conduit that I have to fix before we go anywhere,” the Doctor replied standing up and turning towards the door. C’mon, Doc. If you don’t cut her lose now, you won’t ever be able to, you know it. Do it while she’s willing to leave, when she’s angry. Better lose her now than on some foreign planet who knows where. “Rose, I…” He turned back around to see her sneaking a couple more pieces of bacon onto her plate and looking back at him. “I will work as fast as I can to get us moving again.”

Coward.

“I don’t doubt it,” Rose replied with a hint of a smile. He flashed her a tiny smile before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. He let out a deep breath and leaned against the door, rubbing a hand down his face. She probably wanted to leave anyways. Landing back home would be her first thought, he supposed. After all, she had been wanting to go back home more often than she had before. Granted, once it was because of Mickey, but… still.

He pushed himself away from the door and walked away back towards the console room. Sighing, he began work again.

After finishing her breakfast, Rose retreated to her room where she took out of her iPod and began listening to some music. He may be the most brilliant person she ever met, but God, he was sometimes the stupidest. The only way they would be able to get back to normal was to talk. Sure, they had a fight, but he didn’t have to be so awkward around her now. It wasn’t like she hated him. It was just a fight of sorts that she wanted to hear his side on. Whether it be defending his actions or apologizing for them.

She just wanted to know what was going on in his head. She knew it was a great burden that he had to bear. He killed all of his people, what’s a couple more lives here and there to him? Really, she knew that wasn’t fair.

And so, she was giving him the space he needed until he felt like he wanted to talk about it. To process everything that had happened and why she was angry at him and why she was right. Well, not necessarily that last part, though she hoped so because she knew she was right and if he disagreed it meant he was wrong. And he hated being wrong. Rose smiled thinking about how he acted when he turned out to be wrong. He normally went stone faced and then broke out that huge grin of his as he realized what the answer was all along. Or sometimes he gave that studying look of his big brain at work. Rose let out a small laugh thinking of that dorky idiot and the faces he made.

Finally, she decided that she missed him and had given him enough time to think. Heck it had been days, and just thinking of his expressions and laugh and smile made her feel empty without them right there in front of her. Rose quickly jumped from her bed and walked out of her room, looking down the corridors, then making her way to the console room.

“Doctor?” Rose called. He wasn’t there. Completely empty. That was odd. Rose walked up to the console and looked on the screen. There was a post-it note with words written on it.

 

Rose,

TARDIS appeared somewhere. Went to investigate. Won’t be long.

 

Rose narrowed her eyes. God, he was an idiot! He just left her behind? That was just plain rude. She didn’t care if he didn’t want to talk about it now, she just cared that he went on an adventure without her. She was going to kill him. Multiple times. She could, after all, with that whole regeneration thing he had.

Without checking anything else, Rose stormed out of the TARDIS. After walking out and seeing it was snowing lightly, she walked back inside and picked up her jacket from one of the railings, then walked back outside. Looking around it looked like a grassy plain with hints of snow along the ground.

“Doctor!” Rose called.

“You are a woman!” a voice said from next to her. She jumped in surprise, quickly turning to see a young girl with bright red hear standing next to the TARDIS. She was wearing what looked to be heavy robes of some sort.

“Uh, yeah, I am, I guess. Who are you? Where are your parents?” Rose asked bending down so she was the young girl’s height.

“Dead,” the girl replied narrowing her eyes, slightly, “You were with that man, weren’t you? The one from the box?”

“Y-yeah, he’s my pilot. Do you know where he is?” Rose wondered with a smile.

“Yes. He’s in the city,” the little girl replied, “What’s your name?”

“Rose. Rose Tyler,” Rose answered with a nod, “What about your name?”

“Helfaga,” the girl replied with a smile. She grabbed Rose’s hand and ran her across the plain. “They city is a marvelous place. It’s big and all the people are nice there. You’ll like it.”

“Are your parents there?” Rose asked running along with the girl, careful not to trip on the slightly slippery snow. Helfaga laughed.

“No, they died,” Helfaga answered.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rose said biting her lower lip. Helfaga smiled.

“All parents die,” Helfaga replied looking up at Rose. Suddenly, they were in a city. Rose could’ve sworn just moments ago there was no city even in sight, but here they were. It was sunny and buildings stretched to the sky. “I was a lucky one and was sent to work for the queen.”

“How did that…?” Rose said looking around. Helfaga looked at her confused.

“We’re in the city,” Helfaga answered.

“Yeah but…” Rose said looking behind them and seeing only city. “Right. Whatever. Where’s the Doctor?”

“The male? He’s in the castle,” Helfaga answered pointing up at a large building in the center. “C’mon.” She grabbed Rose’s hand and ran down the street, stopping on a blue circle on the ground that just barely fit the two of them. “Helfaga and guest to the castle.” And then, suddenly, boom. They were in a large room, with shiny tile and a huge chandelier.

“Ok…” Rose said as she processed the extremely fast pace this was going at. Suddenly city, then suddenly castle. Cool.

“Helfaga!” a loud shrill voice sounded, “Who is this you bring?”

“She is the woman of the male we found!” Helfaga answered quickly, falling to her knees and bowing down. Across the room stood a woman dressed in maroon robes with a crown atop her head. Probably the queen, Rose figured.

“He’s my friend,” Rose said.

“And he went wandering off. Very irresponsible of him. Typical male,” the queen replied her voice softening as a smile appeared on her face.

“Where is he?” Rose asked quickly.

“He’s in the cellar right now. He tried to break out of one of the rooms we gave him until we found his woman,” the queen answered, “He’s a slippery one yours is.”

“He’s not mine. Not really,” Rose replied with a slight friend, “We travel with each other, that’s all.”

“His your companion, yes?” the queen asked. Rose nodded slightly figuring since she was his companion she could call it the other way around. “We can release him to you, then.”

“Thank you,” Rose said bowing slightly. A thought occurred to her. “Hold on, just a second. D’you think you could do something for me?”

Meanwhile, the Doctor was attempting to break out of a cellar. They took his sonic, and now he had a little piece of wire to pick the lock with. It was a fairly primitive lock, old, by the look of it, and should be easy to pick. Given the technology here, he was surprised in the least to see such an antique lock. He wished he had his sonic. He felt naked without it.

Now he wished he had brought Rose with him. Apparently a man without a woman accompanying them was illegal here. And that wasn’t good for a man travelling alone. They locked up him up in nice room first which he almost escaped from but a guard caught him and threw him down here.

If he had just found Rose and tell her they were going exploring… He figured she wanted her space and didn’t want to see him. She didn’t like him right now anyways. And he wasn’t trying to get in trouble. He was just curious because the TARDIS wasn’t supposed to move and it landed here. It was weird.

BAM!

The Doctor fell over as the door was opened. He quickly scrambled to his feet to see a guard standing at the door. “Oh, hello there!” He waved at the guard.

“With me,” the guard ordered pointing down the hall. The Doctor sighed. He might as well see what was in store for him. However, he was confident in his abilities to escape now that he wasn’t trapped in a room. Now he had the upper hand. He could fool people, but he couldn’t fool doors.

He was brought to a large room with tile flooring that looked like it would be slippery. A bit too gaudy for his taste. He was brought to the center of the room to stand in front of a woman wearing red robes with the looks of a queen. Ah, of course. Royalty.

“You, male,” the queen announced, “Have been found guilty of the attempt to escape from your woman.”

“I have no woman,” the Doctor interrupted with a huge smile, “Well, I mean, I know women, but no one owns me.”

“This crime,” the queen continued ignoring the Doctor’s interruption, “Is punishable by death.”

“Oh great, you’re going to kill me, are you?” the Doctor sighed shaking his head, “Oh the oldest story in the book. Never worked on me. Countless have tried though. Maybe you’ll be the lucky ones who actually pull it off.”

“Carry the sentence out,” the queen ordered. Two guns were pointed at the Doctor. He raised his hands in defense.

“Right, you see…” the Doctor began with a slightly stammer, trying to think of something quick, “If you really want to kill me you coul-”

“STOP!” a yell echoed through the room as Rose Tyler kicked through the front doors wielding a huge gun that she had to hold with both arms. “I order you to release this man!” The guards did not move. The queen laughed.

“The only way to do that, darling, is if you kill me,” the queen replied with a sinister grin.

“Fine, you know what? Who cares?” Rose said pointing the gun at the queen.

“Rose! Don’t!” the Doctor shouted trying to move, but the guards’ guns were blocking his way. The look in her face.  Oh Rassilon, that was scary.  Was this what he looked like when he killed?  What was she doing?  What was she doing?  He was beginning to panic slightly his teeth gritting as she pulled the trigger releasing a bolt of light. The queen fell to the ground. The guards scattered towards her to see if she was alright and Rose quickly ran towards the Doctor, grabbing his arm and slamming a ball against the ground.

They appeared by the TARDIS and Rose dragged him in.

“ROSE TYLER!” the Doctor roared as soon as they appeared pulling her back out, “What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?”

“Saving you,” Rose answered simply.

“You can’t just kill people,” the Doctor said firmly, “That is completely… I can’t believe…” Rose threw the gun on the ground and crossed her arms looking at him with a look that he didn’t like. “You didn’t kill her.”

“No,” Rose replied, “But you know what? That’s how you look to me when you do stuff like that. You can’t ‘just do your job’ and let yourself kill people with that justification. Or any justification. If there is really no other way, I can understand, but before, you had him. Just had to lock him up. Lock him up in your TARDIS for all I cared.” The Doctor sighed, the anger from the ploy going away and depression and regret bubbling up.

“I’m sorry, Rose. For everything. For how I acted,” the Doctor said evenly, “For… murdering that man. I thought there was no other way, at the time. Even now I see no alternative. I’m trying not to be that man anymore, the one who kills people, the one who sacrifices others for the sake of others.”

“I’ll be here to help,” Rose said with a sympathetic look on her face, hugging him tightly.

“You don’t… hate me?” the Doctor asked a bit confused. He was sure she hated him for it.

“I hated what you did. But one action doesn’t make a person who they are, so yeah, I still like you,” Rose replied releasing the hug and kissing his cheek quickly. Rose smiled pulled him into the TARDIS again. “They were nice people. The queen and them. Though they treated their men more like pets than anything else.” The Doctor chuckled.

“I suppose,” the Doctor replied with a small smile as he walked to the console, “That woman, the queen, she’ll be alright, yes?” Rose nodded. “Good.”

“Couldn’t hurt a fly, I couldn’t,” Rose said.

“Unless it was forty feet long and was trying to eat you,” the Doctor teased. Rose laughed.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Rose said, “Your choice.”

“Oh, my choice?” the Doctor replied with a grin, “Oh where, oh where should we go? I know.” He pulled a lever and the engine began.


End file.
